76ers Anticipate More Aggressive Joel Embiid in Game 3 vs. Celtics

Joel Embiid returned to the court for the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Boston Celtics.

After missing Game 4 in the first round against the Brooklyn Nets and Game 1 in Boston on Monday due to a sprained knee, Embiid was hopeful to make his second-round debut in 2023 on Wednesday.

Coming off of a shorthanded win in Game 1, the Embiid-led Sixers couldn’t take care of business in Game 2.

Not only was Embiid understandably rusty after taking nearly two weeks off to recover, but he had to get adjusted to playing with a brace on his knee.

“There’s no excuses,” Embiid said when asked if his injury affected him on Wednesday. “I’m out here, so I’m good. I’m good to play. We just got to be better as a team. We didn’t execute what we’re supposed to do. They played freely all night. They got whatever they wanted. As far as me, like I said, I’m good.”

Entering Game 3, coming off of a blowout loss, the Sixers listed Embiid as questionable. Barring any unexpected setbacks, he’s expected to play and expected to be much more aggressive.

“I think the team will be more aggressive, I think Joel will be more aggressive,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said during his pregame press conference. “I think playing him the other night, in my opinion, turned out to be a very good thing for us. Tonight, Joel will be ready to play.”

As many questioned whether or not the Sixers made the right choice by playing Embiid as early as Game 2 rather than waiting for Friday’s game at home, both Rivers and the big man believed that shaking the rust earlier was the more logical decision.

“I was supposed to be out for four-to-six weeks or something like that,” said Embiid. “I’m not gonna be one-hundred percent for the whole time, or I’m not gonna be fully healed for the whole time. It felt pretty good to play. … I just felt like it probably would’ve been the same result as far as how I’m feeling if I came back Game 3. Probably rusty and not myself, but I feel like I just got this out of the way.”

Embiid checked in for under 30 minutes in Game 2. During his shift, he shot 4-9 from the field, scoring 15 points while coming down with three rebounds and blocking five shots on the defensive end.

As a whole, the Sixers struggled in Game 2, and they hope that Embiid can lead by example by coming out more aggressive for Game 3 on Friday night.

“It’s not Jo, it was all of us," Rivers finished. "You could go Game 4 in Brooklyn, and we didn’t move the ball. We were awful, we just won the game. It was just one of those games Give [the Celtics] credit, I thought they slowed us down with their pressure. I thought Jo was trying to figure out how well he can move and play. We had just got him back so I think there were a lot of factors. There’s not anything that we are concerned about.”