The Philadelphia 76ers looked frustrated and it’s hard not to following a tough 128-101 loss to the Boston Celtics that puts them in an 0-2 hole early, but this is no time to hang their heads. They cannot just give up now. They have to keep fighting.
Joel Embiid led the way with 34 points and 10 rebounds, but it was not enough as the rest of the team did not step up offensively and the Celtics went bonkers from deep behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Philadelphia shot 5-for-21 from deep compared to 19-for-43 for Boston as the Sixers looked confused on defense and they couldn’t help Embiid on offense.
“They made some tough shots, but we can’t let that discourage us,” said Embiid. “We’ve just got to keep on going and keep playing the way we want to. Just be aggressive and I guess I’ve got to do more. I’ve got to keep on pushing and push myself. We’ve got to be on the same page.”
On top of that, the Sixers can’t rely on going back to Wells Fargo Center for Games 3 and 4. They don’t have that luxury in the bubble.
“Obviously, it would be a different story if we were going back to Philly because we never seem to lose in front of our fans, but with this you can’t count on that and look at it that way,” the big fella added. “You just got to take one game at a time, one play at a time, we got to be more physical than them offensively and defensively.”
After pouring in 34 and 10 and playing 34:20 while having to carry such a heavy offensive load, how much more can the big fella give? There is so much responsibility on his shoulders and he has to find a way to throw this team on his back without Ben Simmons.
“It’s hard, you got to play more than 40 minutes especially for a big guy, it’s hard to do, but that’s what I signed up for and I’m happy to be here,” the big fella added. “I definitely got way more to give. I thought today, I wasn’t as good as I’d like to be offensively and especially defensively, we struggled a lot defensively. Obviously, it starts with our guards who got to contain the ball and whenever something gets in the paint, I’ve got to do my job and protect them. Like I said, I got way more to give.”
It is not the end of the world down 0-2 despite that feeling. This is the playoffs and anything can happen at this point of the season. The focus is now on Friday.
“It’s a long series, we’ve got a long way to go,” Embiid finished with. “We got to lock in and get ready for Game 3.” [lawrence-related id=36972,36969,36965]