So frustrating. F the Celtics. 

6 minutes ago, nipples said:

So frustrating. F the Celtics. 

The difference in this game is that even though Jayson Tatum their star player is not playing well, they’re getting enough from their other star and the role players to make up for that. The entire playoffs even before Embiid got hurt he has not played up to the level we have seen all year. Some of that was nets game plan but really he just wasn’t the dominant scorer they really needed if they were gonna upset and beat Boston. So unless somebody else steps up and is that superstar like harden was game 1 they aren’t winning.

Add on major difference is guys like brogdon, smart, Williams and white are usually more consistent offensively game to game then guys like tucker, Reed, melton, niang game to game. 

maxey being 3-14 for the series from 3 isn’t going to be good enough. 

They allowed 35 and scored 16 in the 3rd. They can't get any shots to fall meanwhile the Celtics have hit a ton of 3's in the 2nd half

2 minutes ago, Mat said:

They allowed 35 and scored 16 in the 3rd. They can't get any shots to fall meanwhile the Celtics have hit a ton of 3's in the 2nd half

The difference in this game is the 3s. Boston has hit 17. Sixers have hit 6. 33 point difference. Problem is the sixers besides harden game 1, melton game 1 and Harris not really shooting great from 3. Maxey has shoot horribly from 3 this series so far. 

Predictable letdown game. How disappointing that it happened, and disappointing that this team does it so much you know when its coming. 

I think the Celtics are officially my most hated pro sports team. The Cowboys have been dethroned. 

Should have just rested Joel. 

Ugly second half and really entire game by the sixers. If the sixers expect to win this series then they basically have to sweep at home which is gonna be hard cause Celtics aren’t afraid to come into Philly and win. They’ve done it. 

anyway concerns i have:

— even before the knee injury with embiid, he was not scoring nearly as efficient or as well as he was in the regular season. Now some of that was the Nets game. Plan of doubling him. But the Sixers did absolutely nothing to try to get him going. Knowing that when they got deeper in the playoffs, they were going to need him to be scoring 30+ points every night in order to beat teams like the Celtics. If embiid is only gonna give you 15 to 25 points a night the Sixers don’t have a chance to win because it brings up my second concern…

— as great as Harden was in game one, I think the reality is that 10 day layoff allowed him to get healthier and fresh for that game. They needed to win that game and have him play well in that game if they had any chance in the series. Because you’re likely going to get super inconsistent harden in games 1 to 4. There’s only a day off in between each game and harden tends to have issues shooting when that is the case. Looking at the postseason so far he has had that issue. in nets series game 1 to game 2 was a day off in between. Shot 8-21 in game 1 and then 3-13 in game 2. Game 3 and 4 had a day off in between. Shot 8-15 in game 3 and an awful 4-18 in game 4. This series was 17-30 in game 1 and day off in between, shot 2-15 in game 2. Unfortunately, where Harden is in his career. He’s gonna be inconsistent when they only have a day off in between games. You don’t really know how good he is going to be in game 3 and 4 

— maxey had 26 points in game one but his 3 point shooting has plummeted in this round and from the regular season. He’s shooting 3-14 from 3 (21%). If Embiid cannot give the Sixers the scoring that he did in the regular season and harden is inconsistent and he shoots like that from 3 then the sixers are losing in 5. 

— i think we all know this by now. The 76ers role players and bench guys are nowhere near as consistent as the Boston Celtics bench and role guys. It is what it is at this point. Cant just change the roster. But I think we all understand this off-season if they want to catch the Celtics and pass the Celtics that they need to get much better off the bench and the role players. As much as I like Tobias Harris the person( he’s played actually pretty well in this series so far) they need his expiring contract to get two or three guys that can give them more depth and consistency. That’s the only way I think they can catch Boston. They also need more athleticism on the wing.

— the sixers lost by 34 and Tatum was pretty bad. I think the biggest difference in this series is brown or Tatum can be bad but Celtics can still win games. The sixers cannot have harden or embiid play bad and win games. Both need to be good and likely still have guys like maxey, Harris and melton step up to win games. 

— doc needs to figure out a way to make life harder on brown. Brown is shooting 63% from the field and 60% from 3. Sixers were fortunate he took the rest of the game off in game 1 by only taking 3 shots after the first quarter. I don’t know what your plan is cause if you decide to take brown away I’m guessing Tatum goes off. 

— if white, smart, Williams and brogdon are gonna combine for 65 the sixers are done. Defense has been pretty miserable for the sixers through 2 games. 
 

3 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Ugly second half and really entire game by the sixers. If the sixers expect to win this series then they basically have to sweep at home which is gonna be hard cause Celtics aren’t afraid to come into Philly and win. They’ve done it. 

anyway concerns i have:

— even before the knee injury with embiid, he was not scoring nearly as efficient or as well as he was in the regular season. Now some of that was the Nets game. Plan of doubling him. But the Sixers did absolutely nothing to try to get him going. Knowing that when they got deeper in the playoffs, they were going to need him to be scoring 30+ points every night in order to beat teams like the Celtics. If embiid is only gonna give you 15 to 25 points a night the Sixers don’t have a chance to win because it brings up my second concern…

— as great as Harden was in game one, I think the reality is that 10 day layoff allowed him to get healthier and fresh for that game. They needed to win that game and have him play well in that game if they had any chance in the series. Because you’re likely going to get super inconsistent harden in games 1 to 4. There’s only a day off in between each game and harden tends to have issues shooting when that is the case. Looking at the postseason so far he has had that issue. in nets series game 1 to game 2 was a day off in between. Shot 8-21 in game 1 and then 3-13 in game 2. Game 3 and 4 had a day off in between. Shot 8-15 in game 3 and an awful 4-18 in game 4. This series was 17-30 in game 1 and day off in between, shot 2-15 in game 2. Unfortunately, where Harden is in his career. He’s gonna be inconsistent when they only have a day off in between games. You don’t really know how good he is going to be in game 3 and 4 

— maxey had 26 points in game one but his 3 point shooting has plummeted in this round and from the regular season. He’s shooting 3-14 from 3 (21%). If Embiid cannot give the Sixers the scoring that he did in the regular season and harden is inconsistent and he shoots like that from 3 then the sixers are losing in 5. 

— i think we all know this by now. The 76ers role players and bench guys are nowhere near as consistent as the Boston Celtics bench and role guys. It is what it is at this point. This is just gonna change the roster. But I think we all understand this off-season if they want to catch the Celtics and pass the Celtics that they need to get much better off the bench and the role players. As much as I like Tobias Harris the person( he’s played actually pretty well in this series so far) they need his expiring contract to get two or three guys that can give them more depth and consistency. That’s the only way I think they can catch Boston. They also need more athleticism on the wing.

— the sixers lost by 34 and Tatum was pretty bad. I think the biggest difference in this series is brown or Tatum can be bad but Celtics can still win games. The sixers cannot have harden or embiid play bad and win games. Both need to be good and likely still have guys like maxey, Harris and melton step up to win games. 

— doc needs to figure out a way to make life harder on brown. Brown is shooting 63% from the field and 60% from 3. Sixers were fortunate he took the rest of the game off in game 1 by only taking 3 shots after the first quarter. I don’t know what your plan is cause if you decide to take brown away I’m guessing Tatum goes off. 

— if white, smart, Williams and brogdon are gonna combine for 65 the sixers are done. Defense has been pretty miserable for the sixers through 2 games. 
 

All agreed, but it distills down pretty simply.

With generous rest, Harden summoned his lost prime and took over game 1.  He can’t carry the team beyond that.

The Sixers are built to be carried by Embiid.  Per usual, it’s the second round of the playoffs and he is not able to do it.  Sure, the peripheral guys will run hot and cold, but this is the core problem. 
 

Embiid was built for the regular season.  He’s consistently a top 1-3 player in the regular season and is on the fringe, maybe on the outside looking in, of the 10 most impactful players in the playoffs every time.  

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

All agreed, but it distills down pretty simply.

With generous rest, Harden summoned his lost prime and took over game 1.  He can’t carry the team beyond that.

The Sixers are built to be carried by Embiid.  Per usual, it’s the second round of the playoffs and he is not able to do it.  Sure, the peripheral guys will run hot and cold, but this is the core problem. 
 

Embiid was built for the regular season.  He’s consistently a top 1-3 player in the regular season and is on the fringe, maybe on the outside looking in, of the 10 most impactful players in the playoffs every time.  

I look at a couple ways. embiid hasn’t been healthy in the second round besides that bubble team that was awful. Literally like every playoffs he has some sort of injury and he’s not able to play at the level he was in the regular season.  Which even if he was at 100% and healthy Joel Embiid playing in the MVP level they probably still struggle to beat teams like the Celtics or bucks. They’re probably the underdog still. So if he’s not gonna be close to mvp then really next to no chance they can pull out this series. 

that said this goes back to is the 76ers blew picks and cap space over the years which is hurting with getting a championship roster like the Celtics have around Tatum and brown. By doing so the roster isn’t good enough around embiid or have the requisite star power against Boston (maxey struggles vs. Boston and harden is inconsistent at his age) to make up for embiid if he doesn’t play like an mvp (even if he does it likely isn’t good enough) to be able to win a series against better teams like Boston. My personal feeling is you can’t make as many mistakes as the Sixers have over the course of time and expect to win a title. You can have a mistake or 2 but it’s been a plethora of them.  At some point it dooms you. Most championship teams don’t have nearly the dysfunction of management, blown picks and wasted cap space. That’s really the reality.

imo the sixers are gonna be lucky to win another game if embiid, harden and maxey don’t play significantly better. This off-season I’m not sure how you make the roster better to catch the Celtics. you can’t let James Harden go because you don’t have anybody you can slide in there to replace him to catch the Celtics. Nor do you just get that cap space. Add on you have Tobias Harris as an expiring contact and you can probably get some nice role players that give you a little bit more consistency and depth. But the issue is i think maxey, harden and embiid aren’t good enough as your main core to beat Celtics and bucks in a 7 game series even if you upgrade with role players with a harris trade 

 

Embiid 1-9 against the Celtics in the playoffs.  Celtics in 5

doc rivers just refuses to adjust like if harden is struggling with embiid on the floor, put embiid or harden on the backup role, it's clear both of these players cant work together because both of them want the ball.

Embiid’s stats this postseason so far: 18.8/9.3/3.0 on 45 FG% and 10 3P%. This points per game drop off from the regular season (-14.3) is currently the largest of any player in the playoffs.

Source:

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=embiid+stats+22-23+playoffs

Here are the PPG leaders in the playoffs: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=ppg+leaders+22-23+playoffs

On the other hand, the 2nd place MVP candidate is averaging 28/14/8 on 49 FG%, an increase of +3 points and +2 rebounds per game from the regular season.

Only two instances in the last 30 years of a regular season scoring leader making the playoffs but not being in the top10 in PPG in the playoffs :

Embiid 2023

Embiid 2022

1 minute ago, mikemack8 said:

Embiid’s stats this postseason so far: 18.8/9.3/3.0 on 45 FG% and 10 3P%. This points per game drop off from the regular season (-14.3) is currently the largest of any player in the playoffs.

Source:

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=embiid+stats+22-23+playoffs

Here are the PPG leaders in the playoffs: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=ppg+leaders+22-23+playoffs

On the other hand, the 2nd place MVP candidate is averaging 28/14/8 on 49 FG%, an increase of +3 points and +2 rebounds per game from the regular season.

Yeah, Jokic is on a mission and the Nuggets look like the team to beat. 

 

Jokic wasn't playing down the stretch and resting, while Embiid was playing back to backs to get that award

In any year, has Embiid ever been a top 5 player in the playoffs?

1 hour ago, eagle45 said:

In any year, has Embiid ever been a top 5 player in the playoffs?

He hasn’t. But then again when was the last time Joel Embiid made it from the start to the finish of the playoffs without dealing with an injury? I think the only year he didn’t have an injury was the bubble year. And that team was garbage and they also had like three months off until the playoffs started.

2 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

He hasn’t. But then again when was the last time Joel Embiid made it from the start to the finish of the playoffs without dealing with an injury? I think the only year he didn’t have an injury was the bubble year. And that team was garbage and they also had like three months off until the playoffs started.

I just don't think you can win in these playoffs with a big as your #1 threat 

1 hour ago, DaEagles4Life said:

I just don't think you can win in these playoffs with a big as your #1 threat 

Probably can’t. However, I think they got James Harden 3 to 4 years too late. I do think if James Harden was in his prime and you had Joel Embiid in his prime you could win the title. The problem is you got James Harden declining and not capable of giving you consistency scoring wise/shooting wise over a seven game series against Boston or better teams  

and the thing with Damian Lillard now, if you let James harden go and you somehow were able to pull Damian Lillard (I can’t see that happening) I tend to think  you are potentially running into the same problem. He doesn’t stay healthy enough and he might be declining as well.

To me if you had a 1a and a 1B and 1B was Joel Embiid I think you could win. The problem is the Sixers don’t have that other guy. James Harden is not that guy anymore. I don’t think maxey is ready to be that guy yet and I think as good as he is has some limitation that likely keeps him from being a 1a/no. 1 guy. The best shot the Sixers probably are ever going to have at winning a title with Joel Embiid is when Jimmy Butler was here. Because Jimmy Butler could be the alpha number one and embiid could play off of that.

 

Frankly bud was super fortunate they won in 2021. He was a KD one shoe size too big and kyrie/harden gutting hurt or gutting through that nets series. He’s had the best record in the league 3 of 5 years and the 3 they had the best record they didn’t win.

 

 

11 hours ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Frankly bud was super fortunate they won in 2021. He was a KD one shoe size too big and kyrie/harden gutting hurt or gutting through that nets series. He’s had the best record in the league 3 of 5 years and the 3 they had the best record they didn’t win.

 

 

And if/when the Sixers flame out in Round 2 (again)....Doc should keep his job why???  At least the Bucks won one!

21 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

Only two instances in the last 30 years of a regular season scoring leader making the playoffs but not being in the top10 in PPG in the playoffs :

Embiid 2023

Embiid 2022

yeah...he struggles when the opposing team gameplans him out of the offense. i'd double team him every possession if i were the opposing team. he's still not great at handling it.

teams rarely throw constant double teams at him in the regular season...so he's able to put up big numbers.  

Sixers winning tonight