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Joel Embiid dominates Celtics in Game 5 as 76ers keep series alive: 7 takeaways
“We were just a little lackadaisical at times when we could have put them away."
Joel Embiid was dominant in Game 5 as the 76ers destroyed the Celtics in the fourth quarter to keep their season alive, claiming a 113-97 victory at TD Garden.
Here are the takeaways.
Joel Embiid played a much smarter game
The version of Joel Embiid that dominated in Game 5 looked a lot different than the one that huffed and puffed up and down the court in the Celtics’ blowout win on Sunday.
Rather than hoisting 3-pointers that took the ball out of the hands of Philly’s most dangerous wing scorers, Embiid battered and bruised the Celtics in the paint — knocking around Nikola Vucevic and Neemias Queta, scoring nearly at will when the Celtics single-covered him. When the Celtics brought a double, Embiid made the next right play — spraying the ball out to shooters.
Embiid’s willingness to move the ball around when he was doubled was perhaps the biggest difference — when he gets his teammates involved, he is exponentially more dangerous. He finished with eight assists, and his teammates benefited enormously from the attention he received — Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points on 18 shots, a massive jump in usage (and usefulness) from Game 4, and Quentin Grimes converting open looks created by Embiid was one of the biggest reasons the Sixers pulled away in the fourth and won.
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Embiid finished with 33 points on 12-for-23 shooting. While the Sixers would probably be better off if he eliminated the 3-point shot from his game entirely (0-for-5), he didn’t bother with it much in the second half.
The Celtics now need to find some answers defensively, because the days of Al Horford hounding Embiid 1-on-1 are gone. Maybe the Celtics just needed to make some more shots down the stretch to counter what Embiid brought, but they better be sure, because if Game 5 Embiid shows up again in Philly, the Sixers have a real chance to make the Celtics uncomfortable.
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“You’ve got to pick and choose what you’re willing to live with, and it kind of depends on the situation of the game, and how you’re playing offense,” Joe Mazzulla said. “At the same time, I think that’s where the game is connected there.
“I think we had some empty possessions, two live-ball turnovers that led to some of those, and then you have to pick and choose what you’re going to do.”
The Celtics’ shooting let them down again
For the second time this series, the Celtics shot below 30 percent — 11-for-39, 28.2 percent this time — and for the second time this series, they were burned and dropped a winnable home game.
Somehow, the Celtics managed to go the final 7:03 of the game without a field goal, missing a staggering 14 in a row.
After the loss, Payton Pritchard was asked about the Celtics’ body language, particularly in the fourth quarter when they couldn’t make anything.
“You’ve got to just find a way to win,” Pritchard said. “You’re not going to shoot really well every night, so can you win on those nights that you don’t? That’s what great teams are.”
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The Celtics, however, haven’t given a lot of indicators over the last two years that they can win playoff games when they shoot poorly. Last year, they were 2-4 when they shot below 34 percent from deep. This year, they are 0-2. During the regular season, they were 14-17.
Mazzulla pointed out that it wasn’t just 3-pointers that wouldn’t fall — the Celtics also missed layups, especially during the stretch when the game was getting away from them.
“We just have to be able to bounce back from that,” Mazzulla said. “I think when you have empty possession, empty possession, and at the other end, you’re not getting stops, it just gets frustrating.”
That’s certainly understandable from a human perspective, but Celtics fans remembering how frustrated and discouraged the team looked during last year’s series against the Knicks might feel some concerns bubbling up as they look ahead to Game 6.
“Just lean on each other,” Jayson Tatum said. “That’s what you’ve got teammates for. Each guy has to be out there to pick each other up and just kind of move on to the next play. When we’re at our best, we do that really well.”
Derrick White is icy cold
The Celtics might need someone to pick up Derrick White, who finished 2-for-8 from the field and 0-for-4 from behind the arc.
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On Sunday, White made a pair of 3-pointers in four attempts, but once again on Tuesday, he looked uncomfortable and uncertain. He doesn’t appear to be looking for his shot unless the clock is winding down. Late in the fourth quarter when the Celtics needed to see one go in, he had two open triples in the corner, but he missed both.
White is a game-changing defender and an excellent Celtic, but his shooting struggles are concerning. The Celtics need him to be a scoring threat to make a deep playoff run, and the hope was that Tatum’s return would remove some of the pressure from his shoulders.
Instead, White still looks like he’s trying to find himself consistently within the offense.
Jaylen Brown tried to do a lot
Brown had a really tough game — 9-for-23 from the field, 22 points, 1-for-4 from three, and three turnovers.
When the Celtics’ offensive engine dies, Brown sometimes tries to muscle it back to life himself — yanking on the pull cord fruitlessly. The results are rarely good, and Tuesday was no exception. Brown committed two offensive fouls by pushing off in an effort to create space for himself by sheer force, and he probably could have been called for a couple more.
Meanwhile, Brown got pulled into the trap of complaining to the officials — driving as if he wanted to get fouled more than he wanted to score the ball. That’s an easy way to end up compounding frustration both at yourself (when you miss) and the officials (when you don’t get the call).
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“I feel like we played hard,” Brown said. “I also feel like they played hard as well. It just wasn’t good enough from us. Wasn’t good enough on my behalf. We’ve just got to be better.”
The Celtics’ bigs have a big task
Neemias Queta started well — after struggling with foul trouble in every game prior, he managed to play an entire first-quarter stint without fouling Embiid.
However, in the second quarter, they began to pile up. Queta committed his first trying to contain Maxey in the pick-and-roll. He got hit with a second after running into Andre Drummond in the back court. He picked up a third on a soft call in Embiid’s favor with just under 20 seconds remaining before halftime, and Queta’s huge reaction hammered home the frustration the big man has been dealing with trying to stay on the floor. He finished the game with five.
“He’s going to get a couple just being involved in two-man actions with Embiid and Maxey,” Mazzulla said. “With the high frequency, you’re going to get some there.
“So you have to try to take away the ones that you can control.”
Meanwhile, Vucevic is doing his best, but the defense is a problem, and the Sixers are more than happy to target him.
It’s possible that better 3-point shooting alone papers over the Celtics’ center issues in Game 6, but if the Celtics and Knicks advance, more difficult matchups lie on the horizon.
The Celtics now have to win a game they didn’t want to play
The Celtics looked relaxed and happy entering Game 5.
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Afterward, they knew they let an opportunity slip away.
“We were just a little lackadaisical at times when we could have put them away,” Pritchard said. “We just messed around with the game and when you have a team on the brink of elimination, you’ve really got to put your foot on the gas and finish it.
“I thought we let them have life at times that they didn’t need to.”
The Celtics had a chance to close out their series comfortably and relax for a couple of days, resting up while awaiting the winner of the series between the Knicks and Hawks (New York blew out Atlanta in Game 5 to go up 3-2).
Instead, they need to pick up a big win against a suddenly rejuvenated Sixers team in front of a Philly crowd that will be wild with a blood lust to force a Game 7. The Celtics have won in that playoff environment before, but they had a 13-point lead in the second half and a chance to avoid it entirely.
Mazzulla often talks about how players need to let go of expectations about how the playoffs will go. After all, the other team is talented at this stage as well and won’t want to go home either.
Still, the Celtics now have to take a work trip they never wanted to take and play a game they never wanted to play.
“Every game you lose in the playoffs is disappointing, but the playoffs, every series is a life of its own,” Pritchard said. “You never know when you’re going to get it done. You got to move on and get ready for Thursday.”
What’s next
The Celtics will look to avoid a very uncomfortable Game 7 in Boston on Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena.
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“Just take a deep breath, relax and get ready to go,” Brown said. “Just have the right mentality and come out and execute your job. No need to put any extra pressure on ourselves. It’s already enough of that as it is. So just come out and play basketball and play the right way.”
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