PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics for the first time this season behind an unreal Joel Embiid performance. He carried the Sixers as much as a player could, scoring 52 points in a 103-101 win and showcasing the tweaks he made that have unlocked the insane level he has reached this season.
Embiid has been operating more from the nail and the free-throw line on offense this season as opposed to the low post. From having better passing windows to seeing fewer double teams, the adjustment has paid off, partly thanks to James Harden's ability to draw away defenders that give him room to dish it to the big man with space. Embiid has been vocal about how he looks to spread the ball around to his teammates, which he did to help seal the deal against the Celtics.
“It's not necessarily about scoring,” Joel Embiid said of the adjustment. “It's about playmaking, those passes to the corner for P.J [Tucker]…Better vision, better passing options and that's what it comes down to. Obviously, it gives me a lot of space, like I said. So, it's much harder to double there than in the post. You get doubled in the post, you don't have a lot of passing options and you don't have great vision and you gotta throw the ball with two hands.
“But getting the ball at the nail, getting doubled, you got the vision of everything and everything is wide open as long as we got the right spacing and everybody's flat,” Embiid continued. “I can see everything, I can see over any [defender].”
Tucker made three massive triples in the fourth quarter off of feeds from Embiid, giving the Sixers enough of a lead to hold onto the victory. Embiid added six assists to his stat line as he hit jumper after jumper from around the foul line. Picking up a win against the Celtics, even without Jaylen Brown, made his big night all the more sweeter.
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