Joel Embiid announced as MVP (Philadelphia Sixers Twitter page)
After being recognized as MVP, Joel Embiid wants to remove the loser label that has stuck with him following a series of past playoff failures. Tonight (Tuesday through Wednesday) he took a significant step toward that with an impressive performance that swept Philadelphia to a 103-115 victory in Boston in Game 5 of the series. Embiid finished with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks, setting the tone in the decisive game from the start.
He finished the first half with 21 points, led the Sixers to a confident lead and made some momentum plays on both sides of the court that helped break the Celtics for good, at least in this game. One of those plays came five minutes into the game, when Boston went on the offensive, and Embiid frantically went back on defense to block a Jaylen Brown layup. At that moment, the Celtics' comeback hopes seemed dashed, and Philadelphia went all the way to a victory that puts them in an excellent starting position to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, considering that throughout history, 85% of teams that have won Game 5 at 2-2 have moved up a stage.
"I love these moves because they break the opposing team and take the wind out of the fans' sails," Embiid boasted of his block-down Chase LeBron James. Embiid insists there's nothing to celebrate yet. "I don't care what they say, we still have another game to win. That's all I think about," he said.
"Joel just makes winner moves. He does what he's expected to do," P.J. Tucker told his teammate. "He's the MVP, and he's used to doing things like that. We're building on those moves of his, and games like that. As long as he plays aggressively and assertively, we're a very tough team that's very hard to beat."
At its peak. Embiid (Photo by Getty Images, Maddie Meyer)
The one who steered the game wisely was James Harden, who after the explosion in Game 4 settled for "only" 17 points and took only 8 shots from the field, but provided a responsible, controlled and efficient game, dishing out 10 assists compared to only two turnovers, and also adding 8 assists.
"James played like a magician today, it was a perfect game for him," enthused coach Doc Rivers. "He was aggressive in the first few minutes when needed, then took a step back and helped everyone get involved in the game. It was a great performance."
On the other side, Boston is mostly trying to calm down. The Celtics have come out of deep holes before, and only in the playoffs last year did they beat Milwaukee in similar circumstances when they fell behind 3-2 in the series. Last year it ended in an impressive turnaround, but Boston isn't counting on miracles this time. "What happened last year was and is over," Jaylen Brown clarified. "Now we have to come to Game 6 with a much better attitude, because otherwise it will end in elimination. We're still strong in this series, but we've got to give everything in Game 6."
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Cause for concern. Al Horford, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum (Photo by Getty Images, Maddie Meyer)
But Marcus Smart, the true leader of the team and considered its engine, sees worrying signs in the group. When asked at the end what went wrong in tonight's game, Smart replied that "everything went wrong" and then began a motivational speech that could well be interpreted as criticism of his teammates. "I don't know what's going to happen in Game 6, but I'm sure of one thing — if you're not willing to play dirty, if you're not willing to bleed on the court, if you're not willing to break something to win, just don't get on the court. Anyone who doesn't feel like me doesn't understand what it takes to win the playoffs."
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- NBA
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- Philadelphia Sixers
- Boston Celtics
