Recap: Embiid Dominates at Free Throw Line, Swiftly Handles Celtics 116-96
DAVID BUTLER II | USA TODAY SPORTS
The 76ers met the Celtics at TD Garden and handed them an absolute beat down. Joel Embiid was getting anything he wanted, and Boston’s stars struggled to get to their spots. It led to a 116-96 win for Philadelphia, but the win's magnitude was much greater than 10 points.
Embiid was an absolute monster, per usual. He ended the night with 35 points and seemed unstoppable in the post. His ability to get to the free-throw line was on full display, and he ended the night with 16 makes on 20 attempts. Boston’s lack of size at the center position allowed him to move everyone around down low.
Robert Williams picked up three fouls in the first quarter alone, putting Brad Stevens in a precarious position. Luke Kornet got bullied by Embiid, leading the Celtics to lean on Tacko Fall for some rotational minutes. None of the above were able to guard Philadelphia’s MVP candidate big man effectively. Williams had fouled out by 9:29 in the fourth quarter in only 13:56 minutes of playing time.
Jayson Tatum was unable to get any sort of rhythm going. He began the game shooting 0-5 from deep and ended the game 3-10 from that range. He continuously tried to shoot over defenders instead of driving past bigger defenders.
Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown had an effective first quarter but was nowhere to be found after that. He did not attempt a field goal from 6:16 in the second to 1:19 in the third. He ended the game with 17 on 6-10 from the field and 3-7 from deep.
The game was tight in the first, but Philadelphia was able to open up a massive lead through the two middle quarters. They did so behind the usual dominance of Embiid and the assistance of Ben Simmons and Danny Green. Simmons had a ton of success driving the ball while Green was lights out from deep. They finished with 12 and 17 points, respectively. Green ended the game 5-6 from three.
Boston showed flashes of a potential comeback, but the 76ers were too much to handle. Once Williams fouled out, the C’s were forced to play small-ball with Semi Ojeleye and the other four starters. They managed to cut the once 20-point lead down to 11 at one point but could never get it back to single digits.
Embiid and his ability to get to the free-throw line was too much for the Celtics to deal with. Stevens emptied the bench with under two minutes to go, and the Sixers ended up winning 106-96. They snapped the Celtics’ two-game win streak. The C’s will take on the New York Knicks tomorrow on night two of a back-to-back at7:30 PM EST on NBC Sports Boston.
