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The world of sports is full of almost players who have reached the well, but repeatedly failed in their attempts to drink from it.
who touched fame, but were unable to enjoy it to the end.
Charles Barkley is perhaps the greatest of the NBA's almost players, the current representative of the phenomenon is probably James Harden, but in recent years Joel Embiid has increasingly emerged as his potential "competitor", and one moment tonight (between Saturday and Sunday) illustrated It's perfect.
1.3 seconds to the end of the game between Boston and Philadelphia Jayson Tatum hit a big three that gave the Celtics a 107:110 advantage in the top game in the brotherhood city.
Embiid, who had scored 41 points up to that point and was unstoppable, got the ball, turned around and shot from three-quarters court what was supposed to be the basket of the year.
The ball went in, but it soon became clear that it was caught after the buzzer.
Boston celebrated, and a frustrated Embiid ended another great game with a sense of disappointment.
"I wish I could have released the shot sooner, but right when I turned around I saw Derek White in front of me and I couldn't really shoot, so I had to wait a bit and then release the shot," Embiid repeated, painfully admitting: "Unfortunately, this is the story of my life."
It's happening to him again.
Embiid and the lost basket (Photo: GettyImages, Mitchell Leff)
Embiid's career is indeed full of near misses.
The missed basket that he scored tonight took league fans back to April 2021, to the closing seconds of the game between Philadelphia and Phoenix.
The Suns led by 3, and Embiid threw a football-style suicide shot at the buzzer from the penalty line of the opposite basket.
Miraculously, the ball bounced over the ring and Mian entered.
Even then, like tonight, Embiid missed one of the craziest baskets remembered in the NBA in recent years.
"I don't care if they remember this basket or not. It's probably a great highlight for everyone, for social media and all that, but it doesn't count. We lost the game, and it's frustrating, especially after we led by a big margin. It's just disappointing," continued Embiid, who is struggling to be freed from the feeling that it is already a matter of fate.
Embiid is already 28 years old, and although he is putting up huge numbers and maintaining consistency every season, he is still not living up to the expectations he has set for himself.
Although the Sixers are building around him talented and deep teams with championship aspirations, he has yet to make it past the second round of the playoffs.
Even in regards to personal titles, he feels deprived.
In the last two years, he was among the three finalists for MVP, but Nikola Jokic received the award.
He is also competing for the title this season, but a third straight win for Jokic seems almost like a consensus, with the reasonable assumption that he will keep Denver in first place in the Western Conference at the end of the regular season.
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This has happened to Embiid before
On the other side of the scale is Jayson Tatum, who is developing into the complete opposite of Embiid.
The Boston star did suffer from a tepid offensive day and finished with 18 points, but the important shot of the game, with 1.3 seconds left, he scored with impressive composure, with a guard inside.
Tatum looked frustrated and angry in the final minutes of the game, and with half a minute left when the camera zoomed in on him during a Celtics timeout, he threw a towel at it in frustration.
But as mentioned, the last and important shot really went in, as has happened many times in recent years.
In fact, Tatum already has 9 game-winning or tying clutch shots in the final 5 seconds of regular season games.
In the last five years, he is the leading player in the NBA in this category.
"It's true that I had a less good day and less accurate shooting, but I always believe in my shot, always believe that it will go in, it doesn't matter what happened before. Even if I missed five shots in a row, if I have a good shot in the next attack, I'll just take it. It The right thing and the best thing for the team," Tatum explained at the end.
"The winning basket? I dream of moments like this. The worst thing that can happen is that he misses, and it's a shot I work on so many times, I've scored it a thousand times in my life, so I knew there was a good chance it would go in this time too."
Winner.
Tatum (Photo: GettyImages, Mitchell Leff)
Tatum said he didn't see Embiid's ball go in at all.
"I turned around and didn't even look, because I saw him dribbling and realized that he didn't have time left to release a shot in time. It went in at the end, but I had a feeling that the basket wouldn't count. On the other hand, it's the NBA, anything can happen in this league."
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NBA
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Joel Embiid
Jason Tatum
