DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE STREAMING FREE
With the Nets double-teaming Embiid almost every time he touched the ball (and with him missing Game 4), the Sixers ranked 15th in free throw rate (17.8 attempts per 100 shots from the field) in the first round. Embiid was just the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 10 made free throws per game, totaling 661 in his 66 regular season. Overall, Philly led the league in free throw rate (30 FTA per 100 FGA) while also shooting 83.5% from the line, the second-best mark in NBA history. Even with him in MVP form, the challenge is, if the Celtics “let” Embiid get his, do the Sixers have enough firepower elsewhere to make them pay?ģ1 - In their four regular-season meetings, the Sixers attempted 31 free throws per 100 shots from the field, the second-highest rate for any opponent against Boston. It is the third straight postseason in which injury hangs over the big guy in the conference semifinals, and his effectiveness will be linked to how near or how far he is below 100% good health. Get familiar with the term “sprained lateral collateral ligament” because that condition in Embiid’s right knee will be in play, particularly when he isn’t, dictating his level of performance.
DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE STREAMING SERIES
It figures to be well-known as the Philadelphia center’s most important sidekick by the time this series is over. With the Celtics and 76ers locked into an Eastern Conference semifinal, the series could simply come down to whether Joel Embiid is healthy. One of them will reach the East finals, but each needs the championship round to shush skeptics. Both get plenty of criticism, Rivers for his repeated inability to close out series and advance (his last Finals team was in 2010) and Mazzulla for too much of a do-nothing atmosphere on the sideline.
rookie Joe Mazzulla snagging a third-place finish in Coach of the Year balloting. They got to this showdown from dramatically different points on the coaching spectrum, with Doc Rivers ninth (1,097) on the all-time victories list vs. That’s not the secondary scorer the Sixers sought or need. He went from 6.2 trips to the foul line during the season to 2.8. But his 4-for-17 at the rim in the series was the real reveal. How much does The Beard have left in his tank, and can he dominate offensively when Embiid is off the floor? He took 67 shots for 69 points in the opening round against Brooklyn and after a 7-for-13 night from deep in Game 1, Harden shot 7-for-20 over the final three games. Eight Celtics averaged double figures, led by wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who will stress less-athletic Philadelphia defenders such as Tucker, Tobias Harris, Jalen McDaniels or De’Anthony Melton. Is Philadelphia’s defense up to this task? The Sixers ranked eighth overall (112.7) in defensive rating this season, but struggled at 119.1 and a net rating of minus-4.9 in the four games against Boston. The Sixers will need an aggressive James Harden in their series against the Celtics. Not that either of these teams needed extra incentive, given the history and the stakes. There’s a bonus waiting for the winner: No Milwaukee, the anticipated but now absent East power, to face from the bracket’s other side. The Sixers are on a mission and Embiid, however hobbled by a knee sprain, has a likely Kia MVP honor to justify. The Sixers’ lone victory in April required 52 points from Joel Embiid on a night when neither Jaylen Brown nor Robert Williams III played. Head to head, this series almost has been played, with Boston taking the first three of four meetings in the regular season.
Tucker told his guys, “We’ve been playing all year knowing this is what the end result is going to be … this is our season.” The Sixers swept their way through the Nets. The Celtics needed a game or two more than many of us expected to dispatch Atlanta, but they got here.
The Eastern Conference has its main event in this one - heeding the seeding, no underdog playing its way up from a lower berth. Joel Embiid cashed in 52 points in the Sixers’ only win against the Celtics this season.
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