It’s no secret that Joel Embiid is the engine that drives the machine for the Philadelphia 76ers, but on Monday, he threw the team on his back in a tough situation against the Boston Celtics.
A day after having their home game postponed due to COVID issues, the Sixers invaded the TD Garden very shorthanded against the Celtics. That means having to rely even more on Embiid in order to get the job done.
The big fella responded in a huge way with 41 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and two steals in a 108-103 win over the Celtics. It was a big win as the Sixers were able to put an end to a frustrating 3-game losing skid and move in the right direction.
“He was awesome,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He took his shots. What we talk about with him every day, make or miss, just get your shot. Get the shot you want and I thought he did that. I thought Seth (Curry) did that as well. Our execution down the stretch was absolutely perfect. The spacing, I think we got two 3s off their spacing out the post was perfect. That was pretty good.”
Embiid was especially terrific in the fourth quarter as he scored 17 points in the final frame and he made a ton of clutch shots including a really tough one in the corner over multiple defenders. That is the Embiid that the Sixers need on a nightly basis.
“That’s a shot that we work on every single day,” said Embiid. “So that’s a shot that I just didn’t pull it out of nowhere. We worked on it so many times. I actually had a similar shot last year against Boston in Philly, I stepped back in that corner. So that’s a shot I had to take so I dribbled and I saw the double team coming, and at that point, there had been a couple of times where I got doubled and we didn’t cut quick enough, and I had no passing lanes and I ended up turning the ball over. So in that situation, I thought I had a great angle and I had been making shots. I thought it was a great shot.”
Either way, it was a performance that caught the eye of his teammates. The shots Embiid was making in the fourth quarter were MVP-like. Those are the types of shots that the Sixers will need.
“That was fun to watch,” added Tobias Harris. “The shots that he was making. He’s one of the best operators on that block, the left block, especially. When he sees a mismatch out there and he sees where he can go and create and get some space, he takes it.”
Embiid also understands the situation the Sixers are in at the moment. They do not have a lot of their main pieces and he has to be able to step up and provide his usual dominant production. This was a good win over a Celtics team that is still pretty solid despite their now 15-16 record.
“I gotta do it every night,” Embiid added. “Right now, it’s a lot tougher because we got a bunch of guys out and haven’t been winning. So that was one that we needed. This is a pretty good team. They are way better than what their record says. They got so many playmakers. I expect this team to be way better as the year goes on and everybody gets healthy. They had most of their key guys, so it was a tough one, but it was much needed.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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