Boston Celtics
“He stated they did not care if I used to be taking part in or not and so they hadn’t even adjusted or had kind of game-plan round me.”
Joel Embiid missed the primary three video games of the Celtics-Sixers opening round playoff series, however was so dominant after returning that it flipped the whole thing.
He instructed reporters that he acquired some additional motivation from some comments that Payton Pritchard made forward of Sport 3.
“Clearly I used to be 0-3 in Sport 7s, so I simply wished to deliver the vitality,” Embiid said. “Nevertheless it does additionally assist once I noticed [Pritchard], he stated they didn’t care if I used to be taking part in or not and so they hadn’t even adjusted or had kind of game-plan round me.
“So, I feel it helps when the opposite workforce doesn’t fear about you … it helps you could have higher video games, so I thank [Pritchard] for that.”
Boston had a 3-1 lead, however dropped the ultimate three video games together with Sport 7 at TD Backyard on Saturday. After the loss, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla pointed to Embiid’s presence as one of many largest causes Philadelphia was capable of full such a comeback.
“What modified within the sequence was Joel Embiid got here again, and so they have been a very totally different workforce,” said Mazzulla.
However main as much as Embiid’s return, there have been some feedback on the Boston facet about how they weren’t fearful of the prospect of Embiid’s comeback.
Jaylen Brown stated on his Twitch livestream that he thought the Sixers “is likely to be a bit of higher with out Embiid.”
He later went again and added context to his feedback, noting that they got here a couple of week earlier than the beginning of the sequence. Philadelphia had performed greater than half of the common season with out Embiid, who performed in simply 38 video games.
“On the time, they have been [better],” Brown stated. “They have been taking part in rather well and we didn’t actually get a full have a look at their workforce, so it positively was an adjustment for us.”
Pritchard stated the next throughout pre-game availability forward of Sport 3:
“I don’t assume we’ve talked about it in any respect. If he performs, he performs, we’ll determine that out, nevertheless it’s not like we’re sitting right here fearful if he’s taking part in or not.”
At that time, Pritchard stated, the Celtics had but to game-plan for Embiid. The 7-foot, 280-pound heart got here again with a vengeance within the last 4 video games, averaging 28 factors, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Brown said he had by no means seen Embiid attain that degree of dominance earlier than.
The efficiency earned Embiid his first victory in a Sport 7. It marked the primary time Philadelphia had eradicated Boston from the playoffs since 1982.
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