Nothing looks like a playoff game in the early stages of an NBA season during a pandemic, so it wouldn’t be right to call the Sixers’ victory over the Celtics on Friday night as similar to the postseason.
However, it was a high-intensity physical victory for the Sixers over an Eastern Conference opponent, 122-110. Joel Embiid led the Sixers again with 38 points from 11 of 15 shots and 11 rebounds.
After winning this miniseries against Boston, the Sixers are now 11-5 and are the first in the conference. They will play against the Pistons on Saturday at 8pm.
Here are the remarks about his victory on Friday:
Embiid’s problem, frustration and domination
Embiid opened the game in excellent form, scoring five of the Sixers’ first seven points. He shared a double Boston team with an agile lay-up, hit a pull-up jump and converted one of two free throws after winning a trip to the line with a fake bomb that tricked Tristan Thompson.
Boston scored some initial fouls on Embiid, however, the second of which came after he ventured to defend a pick-and-roll with Kemba Walker and failed to corner the All-Star guard. Coach Doc Rivers took no chances with Embiid’s problem, calling on Dwight Howard to replace him with 5:34 remaining in the first period.
Unsurprisingly, the Sixers lost their initial lead when Embiid sat down and had little apparent purpose or energy in attacking outside Shake Milton in search of opportunities to create shots. Howard was well below his best, making two turns in the first quarter and missing out on Matisse Thybulle’s failure.
The upsets were not exclusively a problem for Howard, as the Sixers scored 12 times in the first half, including five offensive fouls. Embiid’s third foul, at 1:24 from the end of the second half, was one of them, and he didn’t like it, he chewed a water supply.
His frustration continued at the start of the third period, when he felt that the referees missed several fouls on Daniel Theis. The Rivers and the Sixers bank vehemently agreed with Embiid, looking incredulous that his star was not listening to whistles. Perhaps the employees were aware of the tension between Embiid and Marcus Smart about “getting agitated” and in order not to compensate for any potential exaggeration of contact.
Howard was defeated on several occasions in the pick-and-roll defense, struggling to defend himself beyond the three-point line while the Sixers asked their big men for a more aggressive approach. There is a complicated compromise with this pick-and-roll coverage between deterring ball handlers and not being a victim of their superior speed, and Howard was unable to find him. To Howard’s credit, his game improved considerably after his initial pass. The Sixers really increased their lead at the end of the third quarter with Howard in the game and Embiid out.
For the most part, Embiid did well to channel his negative feelings about refereeing into a determined and dominant game. He talked to Ben Simmons for a few minutes just before the start of the third quarter and also shared a few words in the new “cool-down” area at the end of the period, apparently wanting to make sure the two were on the same page about exactly how the team should work in the second half. With Celtics star Jayson Tatum still out after supposedly testing positive for COVID-19, Embiid wouldn’t let the Sixers waste this game.
Simmons produced at a very important time, after serving mainly as a facilitator in the first three quarters. Seven of his 15 points came shortly after the Celtics made a run in the fourth period to reduce the Sixers’ lead to 101-97. Simmons missed, converted a layup and one and fell for a burglary dump.
A 25-point game by Simmons would be great, of course, but his offensive production is not an issue when the Sixers are winning and he is making winning plays.
Curry’s sweater looks great
Seth Curry returned to the court on Friday night, his first game since the positive test for COVID-19 on January 7. He clearly did not have as much breath as usual, a predictable obstacle given that NBA health and safety protocols oblige any player whose positive test for COVID-19 has not exercised for at least 10 days, but there was nothing wrong with his jumper when he hit his first three attempts. Altogether, the Sixers started a remarkable 9 to 9 from the ground.
In 27 minutes, Curry scored 15 points from a 6-in-10 shot. His outside shot and frame are obviously important traits for the Sixers in general, as we saw during the team’s 7-1 start. Realistically, it will take some time before he returns to his physical peak.
Milton, Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, Tyrese Maxey and Howard remained the second unit of the Sixers with Curry back in the mix. Maxey did not enter the game until 9:17 to the second quarter and played only six minutes in total. His play during Curry’s absence evidently did not make Rivers think he deserved an immediate raise in minutes. That said, the rookie is a no brainer for the Sixers’ rotation in the near future.
Thybulle, as he used to do recently, made some defensive moves to raise his eyebrows. He blocked two Walker jumpers, recovering in an impressive way to interrupt the Celtics’ guard.
Is Harris an All-Star? If he keeps shooting like that …
Embiid said Tobias Harris “should be an All-Star” after Wednesday’s victory, and Harris again supported that internal buzz with 23 points from 10 to 12 shots, a night that boosts his already stellar efficiency numbers. Harris entered the night with about 50/40/90 separate shots.
The hallmark of his game at the start of the season is simplicity. In the rare moments when he tried an advanced dribble or two Fridays and didn’t create space, he moved the ball mainly to an open teammate instead of forcing something difficult or complicated.
When he plays well, as he normally does in his first 13 games, there is not much to say. This is a better situation for the Sixers than worrying about Harris’ adjustment, his role or why he wasn’t playing as he did during his best career with Rivers and the Clippers.