The Philadelphia 76ers suffered their first loss of the 2023 NBA playoffs in blowout fashion. After stealing Game 1 against the Boston Celtics, the Sixers got smoked in Joel Embiid's return to action. They lost 121-87, bringing the series to a tie before it heads to Philadelphia.
Given the circumstances, Embiid had himself a fine game. He blocked five shots, moved well on the defensive end and made a few nice moves on offense. The MVP being much less than his best was far from the only reason the Sixers lost and was something Doc Rivers was anticipating heading into the game. He said that Embiid was “rusty” but that he isn't concerned about him.
"Rusty. I thought he got a rhythm a couple times… We expected that, we knew there was going to have to be some kind of growing pains."
Doc Rivers on how he thought Joel Embiid looked in game 2
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— Sixers Nation (@SixersNationCP) May 4, 2023
“Early on, I thought he got a rhythm a of couple times and I thought we were out of rhythm as well. But we expected that,” the Sixers head coach said. “We knew there was going to have to be some kind of growing pains. I'm glad we got it out of the way today…I thought he moved fine. I thought there were several times that he had matchups that he was looking to pass. Especially early in the game, he was really trying to defer. We really don't want him to do that but I get it.”
Joel Embiid himself said that he feels fine and that Game 2 was an important step to getting back to business. While it's not guaranteed that him getting better is just a matter of time, it's a good sign that he was able to play decently well in his first game back. The Sixers need to make sure his efforts don't go wasted in Game 3 on Friday.
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