The Philadelphia 76ers were facing elimination on Sunday. All of the moves they made in the offseason with hopes of seriously contending for a title was on the line as they faced the possibility of being swept in Round 1. The result was a 110-106 loss to the Celtics to end what has been an overall disappointing season.
Joel Embiid led the way with 30 points and 10 rebounds, Tobias Harris had 20 points and five rebounds, Alec Burks added 13, with Al Horford adding 12 and 10 boards, and Shake Milton had 14 with Josh Richardson also added 14. Boston was led by Kemba Walker with 32 points.
With that said, here are the three observations:
Embiid working down low
Embiid once again got the ball in the low block and he went to work against Daniel Theis. In fact, he drew a foul on Theis 15 seconds into this game and the Celtics then inserted Enes Kanter as they immediately made the switch. He marched to the free-throw line six times in the first quarter which set the tone for Philadelphia to shoot 19 free throws in the opening quarter. The only drawback was he only made two of those six free throws.
The rest of the way, he was strong in the post and he did a better job of attacking, but he just couldn’t finish around the basket. It seemed that the responsibility placed on his shoulders was just too much to bear in this series. Especially after the Harris injury. Once that happened, the team’s energy and spirit left with him, and they just could not respond and keep up with a better team.
Richardson’s defense
The Sixers need more shot-making, but boy, Josh Richardson was special on defense in this game. His effort against Jayson Tatum was maniacal and he put him in tough positions all day. There was one specific possession in the second quarter when Tatum tried to drive to the basket, but Richardson cut him off at the baseline and forced him to take a bad fadeaway jumper. He moved his feet against him and made it tough on Tatum on Sunday. The unfortunate part for the Sixers is that Boston has two other shot makers in Walker and Jaylen Brown to make up for Tatum’s struggles.
Richardson also seemed to come alive as a leader. When the Celtics ended the quarter on a 12-0 run, he gathered the team on the bench and he was getting into his teammates and the team responded with a run to temporarily get back in the game, but Boston then closed the game out.
Overall pick-and-roll defense
After making the correct adjustment in Game 3, it seemed like the Sixers took a step back in Game 4, literally. Too many times on Sunday, Walker stepped into an open look at a 3-pointer after getting a pick and the big man dropped back into coverage and allowed him easy looks all day long. That is what is special about the Celtics that the Sixers do not have right now. Boston was able to turn to Walker and Brown until Tatum started heating up at the end of the third quarter. [lawrence-related id=37102,37099,37095]