76ers star Joel Embiid pretty much sealed the 2023 NBA MVP with his performance against the Celtics on Tuesday night, but Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla believes there was something else that did his team in.
Embiid, who is the MVP favorite at most major sportsbooks, finished with 52 points on 20-for-25 shooting, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks in the Sixers’ win over the Celtics at Wells Fargo Center. It was the best performance Boston has seen from an opponent this season, which forced an adjustment on the defensive end that makes a whole lot of sense on paper.
The problem is, basketball isn’t played on paper.
As Embiid continued to torch the Celtics from midrange, Mazzulla elected to have his defenders blitz the six-time All-Star in an effort to get the ball out of his hands. That worked, but ended up biting Boston in the behind as it found P.J. Tucker — who hit three three-point field goals in the fourth quarter to essentially seal the game for Philly.
Mazzulla spoke about the adjustment postgame.
“We made an adjustment and they made us pay,” Mazzulla admitted postgame, as seen on NBC Sports Boston. “(Embiid) didn’t get in transition and we didn’t foul him. We had — our offense we just weren’t like elite tonight. When your offense isn’t elite it puts pressure on your defense against great, great players like tonight.
“So, when you have empty possessions and he’s playing that way from mid range you just gotta stick with it as long as you can. If Tucker doesn’t make those three three’s it’s a completely different game. Or, if we let Embiid keep going maybe he misses a couple. … I thought he just had a great night and we weren’t tremendous on the offensive end like we usually are.”
The Tucker three-point makes can be summed up as an anomaly, as the 37-year-old was brought to Philadelphia to defend the likes of Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler, not take shots. In fact, he entered the matchup averaging three shot attempts per game on season, not makes.
His hot streak just came at a poor time for the Celtics, who Mazzulla believes called the audible on their Embiid coverage at the right time.
“(The fine line on adjusting) was probably right at the point that we decided,” Mazzulla said. “It could go either way. We made the right call, shifted off the right guy, he just made three big shots. I don’t know the exact fine line, but when I talk about that, it was tonight.”
It can be assumed that the Celtics’ offense, who Mazzulla believes has the propensity to be elite on a nightly basis, will be better the next time these two teams matchup, if they matchup. Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams III, who were both missing Tuesday, will likely be in the lineup, helping add the team’s second-leading scorer and best rim runner to the rotation.
If it takes a 52-point performance from the MVP and elite shot-making from a player who hardly ever even takes any shots for the 76ers to pull out a win, the Celtics are in good shape.
