Six Thoughts: Sixers Get Spanked in Joel Embiid's Return, Season Now on the Brink

A decision early in the game proved critical, and the Sixers never recovered in Game 4 as the Celtics rained on Joel Embiid's return to take a 3-1 series lead.

Here are six thoughts on the game.

The backup center minutes go to Drummond

The Sixers were pulling their weight for the first six minutes and 49 seconds of the game, and then Nick Nurse pulled the wooden block that caused the Jenga tower to collapse on the spot.

With Embiid available, he opted for Andre Drummond in the first stint of backup center minutes. Both teams struggled mightily to start the game. Boston, mind you, opened 0-for-4 from 3 with no made jumpers through Embiid's first stretch of minutes.

Enter Drummond, who usually has to be married to drop coverage on defense. He promptly fouled Luka Garza, putting a Boston free throw on the board. 41 seconds after the Sixers started having to defend below the level of the screen because Drummond was on the floor, Payton Pritchard drilled a 3. He followed with another pull-up hit 34 seconds after that. About a minute later, Drummond fouled Jayson Tatum on a 3 in an effort to guard him in space.

That spelled the end of Drummond's stint, but the damage had already been done. The Celtics saw a couple go in and the flood gates were open.

Philadelphia's obssession with trying to shore up the glass is understandable. But Nurse and company also have to look at the trend of the game and abandon their fears in favor of context some times. That is, by definition, what in-game coaching adjustments are.

The unnecessary risk they took was that one of the most prolific 3-point-shooting teams in the league wouldn't punish a very basic defensive scheme that leaves pull-up shooters open, and it blew up in their faces spectacularly.

So much for 3-point defense

I've been preaching since Game 1 that overreacting to every instance of rim pressure plays into Boston's hands. They want you to be scared of giving up shots at the rim because that means more open 3s for them. The 3 is their version of the layup. Game 2 proved that they will shoot them regardless of quality, regardless of score, regardless of shooting results in that game.

And yet, they trotted out the same defensive principles that have hurt them all season—give up an open 3 if it means you stop a crusade to the rim.

Whether it was throwing two additional bodies at a driver and abandoning the weak-side corner, getting preoccupied by a roller and deserting the strong-side corner, helping too far off one pass away, or just freezing in no man's land on Boston offensive rebounds, the Sixers gave up 3s from every possible scenario that traditionally results in a 3.

There's at least some logic in being protective of the rim. The Sixers were sending multiple bodies at Tatum and Jaylen Brown on touches in the post. Those guys can both see and feel the floor, although Tatum's playmaking is better than Brown's is. To disregard stationary 3-point shooters one pass away to bother a long 2 is completely foolish.

If only the Sixers actually had success on the glass

Perhaps Nurse would've been able to point to the box score and exclaim, "See! I told you so!" if his team had actually taken care of the glass with Drummond on the court or at the expense of the open 3s.

First of all, you can't really manage the defensive glass if the opposition isn't missing shots because they're so wide open against your drop coverage. Second of all, with two minutes and five seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Sixers sported an offensive rebounding rate of just 14.3%, per Cleaning The Glass.

That is, they came down with their own miss just eight times on 34 missed shots. Boston, on the other hand, pulled down an excellent 36.8% of their own misses. At that point, they had missed 35 shots in the game.

Think about that. Neemias Queta was the only Celtic to not have attempted a 3 by that point, so Boston's rotation was mostly capable of playing five-out offense. On nearly the exact same volume of missed shots, the Celtics had more than double the offensive rebounding rate the Sixers did.

That is flat-out uncompetitive.

Consider that Boston had attempted 37 3s by that time in the game. Only 16 went in. So what we're saying is that a five-out offense missed 21 shots without having inside positioning on the glass and still thoroughly bullied the Sixers to the second-chance plays.

'Unacceptable' is maybe too generous of a word.

Valuing possessions

This is missing the forest for the trees, but I have to wonder how Tyrese Maxey and Paul George feel watching the likes of Kelly Oubre and Quentin Grimes settle for early-clock 3s after they both preached the importance of valuing possessions. Oubre has had a fine enough season shooting the ball. Grimes has not. But they're both explosive enough off the dribble that taking an early-touch 3 is settling.

What is Nurse doing?

I want to be clear that this is not meant to speak poorly of Drummond. He is who he is. His limitations and skills are defined. Not going back to him in this game is not about Drummond's effort. It's about not learning from the mistake made the first time. Going back to Drummond for another stint in this game was outrageous. Just four minutes and 28 seconds of playing time for Adem Bona?

Oh but at least there were moments of zone defense against this team. They yielded a Brown layup and a Pritchard 3. Have you ever poured Tabasco on a paper cut?

The Big Three does not show up

Embiid struggled with shooting efficiency most of the night and forced a couple jumpers while the game was still somewhat in the air. Maxey took three shots in the first half and gambled on defense, catalyzing open 3s for the Celtics. George got it going...well after the game was already over.

A very disappointing showing from the team's three best players. If we're being totally honest, V.J. Edgecombe has looked like a total rookie in the two games since his heroic showing in Boston. He did not rise to the moment, either.

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