Doc Rivers on Joel Embiid's Offensive Patience in Game 1 vs. Nets

On Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers began their 2023 playoffs with a matchup at the Wells Fargo Center against the Brooklyn Nets.

The game ended in a similar fashion to the season series between the two sides, with the Sixers coming out on top to open the series, 121-101.

Joel Embiid led the home side in scoring with 26 points on 46 percent shooting while also securing five rebounds for his side,

Traditionally, Embiid is used to scoring more points, yet the Nets came into the game with the game plan of keeping him in check and denying good shots, only allowing the Cameroonian superstar to get off seven shots in the opening half, converting only three of them.

The second half would see Embiid get off similar shots, attempting only eight shots on his way to scoring a game-high 16 points across the final two quarters, including one shot from deep.

Brooklyn head coach Jacque Vaughn talked about this tactic in his postgame interview, stating that singling the MVP candidate out worked well.

"Obviously you saw our gameplan of not letting Joel Embiid not getting shots off early, he had eleven at halftime, so check, good..."

This tactic required Embiid to exercise some patience on the offensive end, giving up shots as he passed out to his teammates.

Doc Rivers discussed this challenge presented by the Nets, explaining that Embiid knew he'd end up getting his points regardless of the pressure applied to him.

"I give Jo credit because I thought especially early he was really patient, and we sold that to him," said Rivers. "You're going to end up with however many points no matter what happens, and that happened."

Rivers felt as if Embiid's patience benefitted his team while also highlighting James Harden's 17-point, six-assist performance against his former team as beacon of inspiration for their team.

"But when you start making everyone else better, and then we have James [Harden] making everyone better, it makes us a pretty good team," he finished.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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