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The Philadelphia 76ers saw their 2017-18 season come to a disappointing end in five games against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday night.
In the waning moments of Game 5, Philadelphia had a chance to extend the series but saw star center Joel Embiid miss a two shots near the basket that sealed the team's fate. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Embiid has struggled mightily in that regard this season as he missed all eight shots that could have been game-tying or go-ahead field goals.
Joel Embiid went 0-8 on game-tying or go-ahead shots in the final minute this season, including going 0-2 in Game 5
His 8 such attempts are tied for the most by any player without a made FG under those circumstances.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 10, 2018
This only further highlights what was a disappointing finish to the game with the 76ers putting themselves in the position to grab a win in Game 5. Philadelphia had used a late 11-2 spurt to erase the deficit and had even grabbed a 107-103 lead with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
However, the Celtics made a late push of their own to take the lead back to secure a second straight trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. This was led by their young core group with rookie forward Jason Tatum once again taking center stage offensively for the team as his layup gave them to take the lead with under 30 seconds remaining in the period. Despite all that, Embiid had the attempt he wanted rolling to the basket for the layup over Aron Baynes, but simply came up short on the shot as well as the ensuing putback.
It isn't the result that the 76ers were to looking to have, but it doesn't diminish what was a promising season by the franchise with a significant step forward led by their young dynamic duo of Embiid and Ben Simmons. The future in Philadelphia is bright, which this could mark just the beginning of several trips to the playoffs where they could be in contention for an NBA title.
