This should not have been a whip.
The Boston Celtics were apparently the better team and they probably would have won this series, despite what the Sixers did.
But it must not have been a whip. And the Philadelphia 76ers can blame Joel Embiid.
Embiid was Philadelphia’s only advantage. He was the one aspect of the game to which Boston had no answer. Without Simmons, there was a real fear that Embiid’s downward presence could help free up space for shooters by forcing the Celtics to attack him. His gravity might increase the games of everyone around him.
Instead, Embiid gave Philadelphia low calories. Big numbers that meant made him look good, but did nothing more.
Embiid put up scoring nights of 26, 34, 30 and 30 points in the four losses to Boston. He also put double-digit handball numbers in the sweep. In 20 years as people go through his statistical performances, they will “think well, Embiid has done his job” in this series.
But he did not. He came out very faded because he never cared enough to get himself in the kind of necessary physical condition to close games strongly.
He talks a big game about forcing the issue, but when he faced the slightest resistance, he gladly took mid-size jumpers, even when Kemba Walker overtook him.
Here is a look at his heat chart from the regular season
Joel Embiid heat ticket: regular season
He lived at the rim all year. Against Boston and the bottom frontline, Embiid should have done it again. Instead…
Joel Embiid heat ticket: playoffs
Every jump Embiid took, even the ones that went in, were wins for Boston. They did not involve any hard work in the post to ward off the Boston defenders. It did not take a double team to defend, thus opening up shooting opportunities for the pair of boys with the ability to strike shots on the Sixers roster. It did not attract the defenders, and allowed the Sixers to use their greatest team advantage, offensive handball.
Boston’s defense strategy was spectacular. They dug to the ball when he placed and grabbed the paint when he placed. The Sixers never adjusted to how they played Embiid in the post, and were never creative in giving him more chances to continue. That it is not entirely on Embiid. The entire Sixers franchise, from top to bottom, is a mess.
But Embiid, in this series, was the biggest reason why the Sixers would not really make Boston. Because the Celtics most of the time made his life a bit on the offensive end, he basically shot up and said “ok, fine, I’ll just go up and shoot.”
Embiid had four assists in four games, and none in Game 4. Brett Brown endlessly showed his big man his improved passing skills from double teams that went into this series, but Embiid could not manage to find more than four teammates for men.
And then, defensively, he had the embarrassment to question the Sixers’ defensive strategy.
“I know they want me to stay back at pick-and-rolls and protect the basket, but they just came down with making a lot of tries, so we need to make adjustments,” he said between games 2 and 3. ” “We have to get up and we have to shake, but something has to change, it feels too easy. They just run in those shots and that’s something we have to fix.”
When Embiid came up, Boston roasted him. He had no chance to stay early for Kemba Walker.
Joel Embiid violation Kemba Walker
He also had no shot when he stood flatfooted against Jayson Tatum.
Was the Sixers drop coverage against the Celtics good? No. But Embiid’s inability to actually play that kind of defense against Boston was the reason why the Sixers stood in to play.
The fear of Embiid was the number one reason why Boston fans had nothing to do with the Sixers in the playoffs. He has the potential to be the most dominant player in the league, but he just does not want to do the things necessary to be that. The front office did him no favors, but neither did he himself.
Embiid is talented enough to get his figures. He will set a Hall of Fame career along with some notable highlights. He can be dominant, but only if things work out in his favor.
He disappears when things do not go his way. He complains when he is not the focal point. He beats out when times are tough.
Joel Embiid is not a leader. At the time when the Sixers needed him most, he gave them only the best that was for himself. And since Philadelphia’s season was gone by the Celtics, it’s clear that two processes have failed the Sixers.
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