Celtics must bear in mind biggest Joel Embiid advantage ahead of Game 6

One of the biggest keys to Game 5 was the play of Joel Embiid. The former MVP big man finally got going in the third quarter of his second game back from an emergency appendectomy, and brutalized the Celtics with 33 points and 8 rebounds. 

He was the best player on the court, and it looked like Boston had no counter for his best punch. We’ve seen him have some monster games against the Cs in the past, but what was unusual about this one was that Joel seemed to be fresh and full of energy right up to the final whistle.

That’s a problem for the Celtics, but it’s one that they should be able to avoid. Forever, they’ve made their living against the 76ers by wearing down Embiid over the course of a game, and he routinely runs out of gas down the stretch when it’s winning time.

But in Game 5, the Celtics let him off the hook. They stopped attacking him on offense. In the first half, the Celtics brought Joel into the pick-and-roll constantly, having Queta roll to the rim hard and get behind him for baskets, having Garza and Vooch drag him out to defend threes, and having Pritchard, Tatum, and Brown blow by him and get to the basket.

Celtics can’t stop attacking Embiid on offense

Then, for some reason, the Celtics stopped going at Embiid, allowed him to sit back and get comfortable on defense, and conserve energy while the Celtics passed and dribbled around the perimeter, neglecting their drive and kick game, and not being nearly aggressive enough in actions going at Embiid.

In the first half, they rotated all three centers, gave him different looks, and forced him to defend on almost every single possession when he was on the floor. Midway through the second quarter, he was looking gassed, and it showed.

After the half, that just wasn’t there. Neemy played the entire fourth quarter, but wasn’t making himself a threat as a role man, and neither Garza nor Vucevic attempted a single three-point shot in their 9 combined minutes.

Tiring out Embiid is a foolproof strategy

Embiid just had to move around, take up space, and get in people’s way without being forced to run, jump, or change direction. As a result, he was fresh on offense and was able to take over the game. The Celtics can’t let that happen again. They need to attack him right from the first possession.

Bring him into ball screens way beyond the three-point line, make him step up to take away pull-up threes, make him jump to defend lobs to Queta, make him run out to contest shots from Vooch and Garza, and drive at him relentlessly.

Not only will this be a boon for the Celtics’ offense and help them create easy, sustained good looks, but it will also tire out Embiid and take away the Sixers’ best offensive threat, a proven recipe for success for Boston.

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