To say that it felt just like the Celtics and 76ers have been taking part in two totally different sports activities Tuesday night time is perhaps a bit hyperbolic, nevertheless it actually did really feel like they have been taking part in two solely totally different variations of the identical sport.
The Celtics relied on their traditional regular food regimen of ball motion, well-timed cuts and 3-pointers. The 76ers fed the ball to Joel Embiid time and again and let him work out of the excessive put up.
Philadelphia received their solely sport of the common season collection 103-101, as Embiid dominated all night time and strengthened his MVP probabilities. Nevertheless, the Sixers wanted a Herculean, Wilt Chamberlain-esque, 52-point masterpiece from Embiid to barely sneak by a Celtics crew with out Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams at residence.
It was a powerful win for Philadelphia, nevertheless it didn’t imply a lot within the massive image. Assuming the Celtics don’t collapse within the subsequent three video games, and so they lock up the No. 2 seed, it’s very doable these groups will meet once more within the Japanese Convention semifinals – with home-court benefit belonging to Boston.
Don’t let this sport idiot you. If these groups battle within the postseason, the Celtics ought to discover a solution to prevail. Embiid had his second, however there’s no cause to consider momentum has shifted Philadelphia’s means. He’s 10-12 towards the Celtics within the common season and 1-8 within the playoffs. Tuesday felt like an outlier, not the beginning of a brand new pattern.
For starters, with out Williams, loads of duty fell on Al Horford, Grant Williams and, sure, Marcus Good. Good doubled Embiid ceaselessly within the fourth quarter and compelled him into making fast choices. Credit score to Embiid for both sticking mid-range jumpers or discovering P.J. Tucker within the nook.
Embiid’s willingness to hit the open man – even amid an all-time heater – modified the complexion of the sport.
However chances are high, that was the very best sport he’ll ever play towards the Celtics. He needed to exert a ridiculous quantity of vitality and energy, and it nearly wasn’t sufficient. He had maybe essentially the most environment friendly sport of his profession. The Celtics had an uncharacteristically chilly taking pictures night time. Boston nonetheless almost discovered a means.
Embiid took primarily a 3rd of the 76ers’ pictures and scored greater than half their factors. Whereas these numbers could not ever be repeated, the pattern stays: Philadelphia’s offense is far more isolation-based and repetitive, and it’s not constructed to face up to a deep postseason run.
The Celtics’ offense is like that contraption on the Museum of Science, the place you drop the ball and watch it zigzag from peg to peg, with no thought by any means the place it would find yourself. Your eyes dart such as you’re watching a tennis match, because it zips backward and forward. It’s each intoxicating and spectacular.
AL Horford turns again to the Philly bench after he hits the 3-PT shot for tonight’s Drain of the Recreation
Offered By John’s Sewer And Drain Cleansing pic.twitter.com/O602xpbKYt
— Celtics on NBC Sports activities Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 5, 2023
The 76ers’ offense is extra like bowling – you ship a ball down the center, hoping to knock down each pin, however generally these pins produce other concepts. Chances are you’ll get some strikes, or get sizzling and have an enormous night time, nevertheless it’s exhausting to copy that efficiency each time.
Philly’s offense is predictable and repetitive, whereas Boston’s is free-flowing and almost inconceivable to include when it’s clicking. The Celtics are seventh in assists, whereas the 76ers are seventeenth. Philadelphia is twenty seventh in tempo.
James Harden is first in isolation frequency and Embiid is fifth. No Celtic is within the top-10. Whenever you do the identical factor time and again, nice groups ultimately determine the way to counteract it.
The Celtics will re-learn the way to pressure Embiid into lower-percentage pictures. He’ll nonetheless get his, nevertheless it received’t be as straightforward because it was Tuesday night time. Perhaps Harden and Tyrese Maxey have an enormous sport or two, however the Celtics have an excessive amount of firepower and depth.
In a seven-game collection, Boston’s type will prevail almost each time. Everyone seems to be a menace, it’s nearly by no means stagnant and you’ll’t go away anybody open.
Embiid is the MVP, and he’s ridiculously good at basketball, nevertheless it received’t be sufficient within the playoffs.
