PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid won’t play on Tuesday night. It’s the Boston Celtics’ third meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers in 12 games. The two sides split the first two, and the aggregate score is tied. In the first game, Embiid struggled. In the second, he looked much improved. But now, Boston will have to deal with even more Tyrese Maxey (and VJ Edgecombe).
Embiid is one of the best players in the world—even at this point in his career. He’s a dominant force down low capable of drawing fouls and collapsing defenses at a moment’s notice. But when he’s not on the court, the 76ers have the perfect personnel to play fast.
And defending that type of offense isn’t a strong suit of these new-look Celtics.
Maxey and Edgecombe thrive in transition
Embiid’s dominance largely comes in the half-court. When the game slows down and he’s able to bully guys in the post, that’s when he can impact the game at the highest level. Maxey couldn’t be any more different.
Not only is Maxey the NBA’s third-leading scorer at 33.2 points per game, but he’s also scoring the sixth-most points in transition points per game at 4.7. Any time he gets the chance, he’s running the floor. Edgecombe isn’t far behind, tallying 3.5 transition points per contest, which clocks in at 26th.
In fact, lineups that include Maxey and Edgecombe are scoring 11.1 transition points per game. That’s the fifth-most of any two-man lineup in the league (which is a sample size of 2,000).
That’s where the Celtics’ focus lies heading into Tuesday night.
“Try our best to slow them down,” Anfernee Simons said at Tuesday morning shootaround. “They've been playing at a very high level. Tyrese has been scoring at a very high level. So, we just got to try to do our best to contain him. Contain his three-pointers, contain his transition buckets—big on those. Just his ability to get to downhill, to his right hand, and try to finish and get fouled from there. I think that’s gonna be our biggest challenge tonight, for sure.”
Boston has struggled to contain teams in transition, largely due to their matchups getting scrambled when teams try to run against them. They’re giving up the seventh-most points per possession in transition this season at 1.22.
With no Embiid in the lineup, the Sixers may run more than usual. And with Maxey and Edgecombe leading the way, that’s something the Celtics have to be very, very aware of.