Sing it, Sixers | Sports Daily Newsletter

Clap your hands, everybody!

Never has the Sixers song seemed more like a victory anthem than this season. True, the worry of another Joel Embiid injury is omnipresent, and he is currently recovering from another ailment, this time a sprained knee.

But while Embiid has excelled this season, offering up MVP-caliber performances again, the Sixers haven’t entirely collapsed without him. They managed to finish up the Nets series without him just fine, and even if completing the sweep wasn’t pretty, the job got done.

So now the wait begins for Embiid to be back to full health and for the team to take on a tougher test, likely the Celtics. In the meantime, make sure to practice the lyrics, because this could be their year. Also, don’t miss Matt Breen’s feature on how the song itself was conceived and the Temple student and Delco band that put it all together.

— Andrea Canales, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

❓What’s your favorite Philadelphia sports song and why? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

The 76ers defeated the Brooklyn Nets in four games, completing their first sweep of a seven-game series since 1985. And after the first two games they completed it without Joel Embiid, whose status remains uncertain after he was diagnosed with a sprained right knee. Once Embiid was out, the Sixers leaned on the entire rotation. Tyrese Maxey cut through the chaos of Game 3. And in Game 4, Paul Reed stepped up when the Sixers needed him most and Tobias Harris proved he was worth every penny. And now, if Embiid remains out, James Harden can show how much money he deserves this offseason.

Next: After sweeping the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers await the winner of the Boston-Atlanta first-round series.

The Phillies won three of four games against the Rockies and took their second straight series to move within a game of .500 (11-12) going into their off day on Monday. Zack Wheeler got the win in Sunday’s 9-3 victory, striking out 11, but he again struggled to carry momentum through his entire outing, victimized by a 31-pitch fourth inning when he allowed three earned runs. “It’s not even mechanical,” he said. “I don’t know what it is. It’s just something we’re going to have to look into, I guess.”

Acquired in an offseason trade, lefty reliever Gregory Soto is finding his groove with the Phillies in a new role.

Next: After a day off on Monday, the Phillies open a three-game home series against the Mariners at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday (NBCSP).

During his 17-year NHL career as player, Danny Brière always seemed to be one or two steps ahead in the way he thought the game. This in part helped him thrive despite being undersized at 5-foot-9 and 174 pounds.

Now, he hopes that vision and ability to assess and solve problems will serve him well while working in an NHL front office. Giana Han looks back at how Brière methodically prepared himself for this opportunity with the Flyers and why it is no surprise to many of Brière’s former teammates that he has made the move upstairs and is in line to become the Flyers’ general manager.

Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski could play guard or tackle in the NFL, and in Josh Tolentino’s mock draft 2.0, he’s the heir apparent to Lane Johnson and going No. 10 overall to the Eagles.

The later rounds could also offer the Eagles opportunities to pick versatile players. Check out the ones that draft expert Devin Jackson has going to the Eagles.

Getting drafted in the first round is the dream scenario for just about any aspiring football player. But for former Philadelphia Eagle Marcus Smith, it was a total nightmare full of hellish professional and personal consequences. Inquirer Eagles beat reporter Jeff McLane explores Smith’s story, and how him being a first-round pick, combined with deep-seated personal issues, pushed him closer to a life-threatening crossroads. Listen here.

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi may one day prove that he can indeed score and assist on a cold rainy night in Chester, but for now, it was Mikael Uhre’s night to show his abilities and skill translate from Europe to mucky conditions in MLS.

Uhre scored three goals, the Union won 4-2 and what may delight fans most of all is how, for the first time all season, the attacking trio of Uhre, Julián Carranza and Dániel Gazdag seemed to be firing on all cylinders. That bodes well for the upcoming rematch against LAFC.

In U.S. Soccer Federation news, a new sporting director has been chosen to replace Earnie Stewart, who was once also the Union’s director. Jonathan Tannenwald was able to confirm the news of the new pick and it’s likely not anyone you’d thought of, or perhaps even heard of yet.

New ‘Nova: The transfer portal taketh and giveth, but Villanova recently scored another solid pickup.

Science leads the way: For Bryce Harper, the mission to return to the Phillies lineup is guided by a lot of technology and medical science.

In 1967, the 76ers won the NBA championship in six games with 125-122 comeback victory over the San Francisco Warriors. There might have been a bit of jilted revenge for Sixers fans who had watched the Warriors leave the city of Philadelphia for the West Coast five years earlier. Yet the team the Sixers defeated before the finals was perhaps more impressive, as they took down the dominant juggernaut of the Boston Celtics.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jonathan Tannenwald, Devin Jackson, Scott Lauber, Josh Tolentino, Giana Han, Alex Coffey, David Murphy, Keith Pompey, Marcus Hayes, Gina Mizell and Matt Breen.