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Tim BontempsESPN
After Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid landed his way to the free-throw line in a 117-109 victory over the Boston Celtics Wednesday night, Celtics guard Marcus Smart expressed the his displeasure at the way the game was being held.
Embiid made and made more free throws than the Celtics did as a team, going 17 of 21 from the line compared to Boston’s 13 of 20. The Sixers finished 36th out of 45 as a team.
“I can’t get over that,” Smart said. “It’s hard to win like that.”
It’s hard to win, point by point, when Embiid – who finished with 42 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals – plays like he did against Boston, as he continued to defend his case to be firmly in the Prize race. MVP during the first month of the season.
Regardless of which defender was thrown at him, whether it was Tristan Thompson, who started, or Daniel Theis, who closed, Embiid had his way, scoring double digits in each of the first three quarters and then scoring six points in the final. seven minutes, along with making a key robbery, to help leave out the Celtics.
Part of that stretch, however, included Embiid making three trips to the foul line: trips that Smart thought, in part, of embellishing the contact.
“It’s hard,” Smart said. “It’s hard. Especially when we have our hands raised many times, and he repeats and gets the call, and then at the other end we have our guys attacking the edge, having a lot of contact, and we just don’t get the whistle. It’s hard to play like that.
“If the roles were reversed, I would do it every time. I mean, I would do it every time if every time I threw up my arms or every time it touched me I went to the free throw line. I mean, it’s hard not to get into a pace this way when you shoot 21 free throws alone and allow yourself to hack at the other end.
“It’s hard, but we struggled. The team did a good job. We were right there to win and try to repeat it on Friday.”
Embiid was briefed during his post-game interview on Smart’s comments. Naturally, the old man had some thoughts on how Smart viewed the game, and noted that Smart is well known for selling calls to officials.
“Marcus Smart just told me I’m great?” Embiid said. “Come on. I’m sure he knows himself, and he also knows his game, he does a lot of that. And I think not. I mean, if you watch basketball and if you’re a student of the game and if you really pay attention during the game “We all see it. Every foul, I miss. They probably don’t call them all, like the last one. There were three minutes left, I went up, and that was a foul and they knew it, but they didn’t say it. things they don’t say, and there are many things they say because they need to.
“The game is physical. Other teams tend to be more physical against me. And I guess I’m smarter than everyone. I just take advantage of it. I just take advantage of how they protect me. You can call that, I don’t know, basketball IQ, as if you put your hand up there, I’ll take advantage of it and get to the free throw line, because I know I’m a great free throw shooter and it’s a better opportunity to help the team win in these situations. ”
What was clear Wednesday was that even if one or two foul calls could be argued, Embiid was the dominant figure in the game. With Jayson Tatum seated, the Celtics finished with four players with at least 19 points: Jaylen Brown (26), Smart (25), Theis (23) and Kemba Walker (19 in just 22 minutes).
But despite this offensive outing, the Celtics couldn’t do anything with Embiid all night. He used his size advantage to get a clean look at the basket after another.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens, when asked about Embiid’s repeated attempts against the charity, simply said his team needed to do a better job of preventing him from going there.
“We have to do our best to play without fail,” Stevens said. “I will go back and look at each of them, find out what we can do better. He will score some, but 42 is too much. It will be difficult to win a game when the best player on the other team adds 42 points.
“You have to get back to how we can be better. Not only did he score those points, he also handled the double pretty well on a couple of occasions that led to three points. He had a big impact on the game tonight and it was fantastic “.
Wednesday’s game was the second time in eight days that Embiid had 40 points at home against an Eastern Conference teammate. He scored 45 points, including 35 points in the second half and overtime, on Jan. 12 against the Miami Heat.
The win improved Philadelphia to 10-2 when Embiid plays this season. Coach Doc Rivers and Embiid’s teammates sang their praises afterwards.
“It ‘s not a kind, it’ s sure to have the MVP caliber [play]”said Tobias Harris, who had 22 points.” Night after night, control the game, control the painting.
“[He’s] sure we put in a year of MVP, and one of the most important things is that we continue to keep him game after game and progress, even himself, throughout this year. But I’m happy for him because that’s what he’s put in, and when you win or succeed as a team you get that kind of notoriety, for sure. “