Boston Three Party Spoils Embiid’s Return
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives to the basket against the Boston Celtics during the first half of Game 2 in the NBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinals playoff series, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Sixers followed up a heroic Game 1 win with quite possibly the worst follow-up performance you could possibly have, losing 121-87 in Game 2. The series is now tied at one game a piece.
Joel Embiid returned, and actually played extremely well considering his limitations. However, James Harden was an utter shell of his Game 1 self, tossing up brick after brick in a performance that reflected that of the entire team.
Philadelphia was only down seven at the half even with horrendous shooting. However, the Sixers’ woes from the 3-point line eventually caught up to them and the Celtics churned out three-pointers like a machine. Once the Sixers were outscored by 19 in the third quarter, the game was basically over.
A problem for the Sixers was their defense on Jaylen Brown and the perimeter defense on the Celtics as a whole. Perhaps an ever bigger problem however was the utterly abysmal shooting from the Sixers. The Celtics went 20-51 from three, while the Sixers went 6-30. That tells you how things were breaking for Philly tonight.
The only positive to be taken away was the rust Embiid was able to shake off and the defensive prowess he showed in the paint tonight. Other than that, the Sixers had nothing positive to speak of.
The Sixers will look to brush off this beating when they come home to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday night.
