Joel Embiid: 76ers’ Win vs. Celtics ‘Kind Of Disappointing’
A win is a win in the NBA, but Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid felt slightly disappointed after his team’s victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.
Against an undermanned Boston team that missed Robert Williams III and Jaylen Brown, the star center Embiid had to be nearly perfect for the Sixers to avoid falling into a regular season sweep by the Celtics.
After a dominant 52-point performance that featured efficient shooting from the field and the free throw line from Embiid, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers claimed the MVP race should be finished, with his star center alone at the finish line.
Several of Embiid’s Sixers teammates echoed that notion.
When asked about their claims after the matchup, Embiid didn’t hesitate to agree.
“I don’t know, they’re probably right,” Embiid said before pausing for laughs. “But we got bigger goals.”
For the last couple of weeks, Embiid’s had much to say about the MVP race. At the same time, he claims not to put too much stock into the results might be since he’s focused on helping his team win a title when the season’s all said and done.
A highly-efficient, high-scoring game against a top team in the Eastern Conference should help Embiid tremendously on a personal level. While the team win is a great look as well, Embiid still couldn’t help but feel slightly unsatisfied on Tuesday.
“We got bigger goals in mind,” Embiid continued. “We understand we got a chance, but it’s not gonna be easy. Tonight, for me, it was kind of disappointing because we found so many ways to lose a game tonight.”
Embiid was responsible for nearly half of his team’s points. Outside of James Harden’s 20-point outing, only one other Sixer notched double-digits as PJ Tucker scored 11 points. Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey combined for ten points. Meanwhile, the bench produced ten points as well.
Philly’s All-Star certainly doesn’t deserve any blame for the struggles on Tuesday night, but he took accountability regardless.
“That’s all of us,” Embiid finished. “You know, I’m part of it. Could’ve been better. I had a couple of dumb plays, over-helping and giving up two threes in the corner. The offensive foul on the flop, and another turnover. I could’ve been better — we could’ve been better as a team. Like I said, we got big goals in mind. We got to be better than that.”
Even with a win over the Celtics, the Sixers realize they haven’t reached Embiid’s previously requested status of perfection before the playoffs. While they are in better shape compared to last season, there are some lessons to take away from the previous two games as the season concludes.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
