‘We wanted to run him’: The Celtics successfully attacked injured MVP Joel Embiid in Game 2 victory
"We knew there were going to have to be some kind of growing pains bringing him back."
It was clear heading into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals that NBA MVP Joel Embiid wouldn’t look like the version of himself that imposed his will on the rest of the league this year.
The kind of injury he has — a sprained LCL ligament in his knee — typically has a 4-6 week recovery period. He hadn’t played in nearly two weeks before suiting up Wednesday night, and he hadn’t been able to run at practice through Monday night, according to coach Doc Rivers.
Still, Philadelphia’s star center gave it a try on Wednesday night. The Celtics smartly attacked him on offense, testing exactly how much he could move on that injured knee en route to a 121-87 blowout victory at TD Garden.
“It was important. He’s their focal point,” Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said. “We know that, but we didn’t know if he was going to be full speed or in shape because he took so many days off. So, we wanted to run him and see where he would be at. I thought we did a good job of that, and we’ll see how he bounces back next game.”
Embiid’s rim protection wasn’t as big of an issue as it could have been. He blocked five shots, including a Jaylen Brown dunk attempt that would have been a vicious-looking poster if it went down.
But, the Celtics were able to space the floor and force Embiid to close out on 3-point attempts, exposing an area of his game that he struggled with even before the injury.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics’ 26 3-point attempts in their Game 1 loss weren’t enough. So, Boston shot nearly twice as many (51) 3-pointers in Game 2 and made 39 percent of them.
“I thought protecting the rim was fine,” Embiid said. “It was just the 3s and not being able to keep the ball in front of us. If you can’t keep the ball in front of you, that’s going to create rotations. We were giving up wide-open threes and they were taking advantage of it.”
Offensively, Embiid’s output was about half of what it normally is. He scored 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, much lower than the 33.1 points per game he averaged during the regular season. The 7-foot, 280-pound center wasn’t much of a factor on the boards either, grabbing three rebounds, all on defense. He played 27 minutes and sat the entire fourth quarter.
“[He looked] rusty,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “Early on I thought he got out of rhythm a couple of times, and I thought we were out of rhythm as well. We expected that. We knew there were going to have to be some kind of growing pains bringing him back. I’m glad we got it out of the way today.”
Embiid will have a day to rest before Philadelphia hosts Boston in Game 3. The series is tied, and James Harden who dropped 45 points in Game 1 came crashing back down to earth in Game 2.
A healthy version of Embiid would be a welcome addition for the Sixers during this series, but he admits that would be a long shot. The injury isn’t an excuse, he said. But, it is something that has altered his play so far.
“I’m supposed to be out for 4-to-6 weeks or something like that,” Embiid said. “So, I’m not going to be 100 percent for that whole time, or I’m not going to be fully healed. I felt pretty good to play. I felt like I could help my team … I knew they were going to come at us. I expected it. And, you know, anything can happen. I just felt like it probably would have been the same way how I was feeling if I were to come back in Game 3. Probably rusty and not myself.
“But I feel like we just got this out of the way. I’m disappointed by the loss, but that’s a step towards getting back to myself. Obviously, I’ve got a lot of work to do, and that starts with tonight.”
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