Joel Embiid is back, but at what cost will the Sixers pay?

BOSTON — “I’m back,” Philadelphia 76ers linebacker Joel Embiid told his teammates when accepting his NBA Most Valuable Player award Tuesday night, but 24 hours later, the feeling has turned from relief to anxiety about the course of Game 2. Loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Two weeks after injuring the lateral collateral ligament in his right knee during the first round of the playoffs, Embiid scored just 15 points on 9 shooting attempts and added 3 rebounds, all well under half of his regular season averages, in a 121-87 loss to the Celtics won. The Sixers are without him in the first game on Monday.

Before the game, Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said, “I can guarantee you, if Joel is playing, he’s healthy,” and “we’re not going to risk him anything,” but it was hard to tell if the injury or rust played a larger role in the game. his dull night. Rivers leaned into the latter, but his players were less confident.

“Obviously he’s not 100%, but at the end of the day, he’s there and he gives his all, and that’s all we could ask for,” Sixers forward Tobias Harris said. .

“I was supposed to be out for 4-6 weeks or something, so I wouldn’t be 100 percent or fully recovered in that time,” added Embiid, whose self-assessment means he won’t be in position. The best in this series. When he says, “I’ll keep playing through anything. We have a huge opportunity, and I’ve got to take advantage of it,” it sounds impressive as if a player making a title is the priority in game-time decisions.

Boston tested Embiid’s fitness from the jump. Jaylen Brown looped around the screen and drilled a three-pointer over a flabby Embiid on Philadelphia’s first defensive possession. On the Celtics’ next drive on the ground, Marcus Smart drove in, drew Embiid, then fired a pass to Al Horford in the left corner, forcing Embiid to defend 24 feet. He couldn’t. Horford missed 3, but Boston would make 20 of them on 51 attempts.

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Wishing for good health, Embiid said, “I must be more active, but for the next couple of days I will recover to myself as well as I can.” “I thought protecting the frame was good, I thought it was just the 3s and not being able to keep the ball in front of you. If you can’t keep the ball in front of you it creates spins and now we’re giving the 3s wide open and that’s how they took advantage of it. “

Embiid fell to the ground three times in the first half—once for a fumble, once when Smart pulled a chair on him and once more as a running back on defense. He only checked his knee briefly after the third fall. As he warmed up before the game, Embiid moved enough like him to convince us he was fine. He wasn’t.

“Obviously, even if it hurts, I do my best and just focus on playing hard and not thinking about what happens if I make that move or move that way,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t get that response from your body, and sometimes you do. When you don’t get that response from your body, you just have to adapt.”

Horford and Grant Williams made sure Embiid felt at 476 pounds, fighting for the position every time the Sixers center sought the ball at the high post. The Celtics didn’t feel as strong from Embiid on the offensive end for the first 21 minutes of the game, with his first three attempts coming from 17 feet and beyond. When Embiid managed to gain position at the post, Boston sent him to the free throw line.

“I’m not making excuses for him,” Harris said, “but the playoffs, the second round, the intensity, the physicality, all those things keep going up, and he was just trying to feel outside and see what was right.”

Embiid’s defense in the first half was a different story. He logged five blocks and deterred several other drives once his deflection of Brown’s dunk attempt proved that his knee would not stop him from protecting the rim.

It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that Embiid showed his usual offense presence, finishing a pocket pass from James Harden in traffic. Then, within a minute before halftime, Embiid pulled Horford out for a left dribble and threw a brutal dunk to draw 76 runs to within 50-44.

That was the extent of his influence. The game took the Sixers down in the third period, when Boston’s Malcolm Brogdon made 3 of 6 3-pointers during a long-run barrage. Rivers called a timeout to stop the bleeding with 2:19 left in the quarter, as an official showcase removed Embiid’s bucket who failed to beat the shot clock with a minute left. Air came out of the newly crowned MVP running back. His night is over. Boston held an 83-60 advantage and built the entire lead on Embiid’s watch.

“Early on, they realized Joel was there, and after the third or fourth shot, they just drove on,” Rivers said. “The difference is that they were calling for it, and we didn’t do a good job of holding back.”

As the Celtics pushed their lead to 36, Philadelphia’s focus turned to Thursday, when doctors will examine how Embiid’s body responds to stress on a knee that has yet to fully heal except for Rivers.

“The swelling is the most important thing,” Embiid said. “You just have to cross your fingers and hope that doesn’t happen.”

The Sixers, meanwhile, will try to balance what worked in Game 1 — spacing out Harden, whose 45-point 30 in the series opener is 12 in 14 with Embiid in mind — and reintegrating the reigning MVP. If their behavior in the aftermath of the loss is any indication, they will hope that the combination of wiping out Embiid’s rust, matching Boston efforts, crafting 13-plus assists, and closing a 42-point gap in the arc will give them a homecourt advantage. they stole.

“We’ll fix it,” Embiid said.

“It would be easy to see on film, and it would be easy to fix,” Rivers added.

Game plans may be. injuries? It is not easy to fix.

“If I were back in Game 3, I might be rusty and not myself, but I feel like I got out of the way,” Embiid said. “I’m disappointed with the loss, but this is a step towards getting back to myself. Obviously, I have a lot of work to do. That will start tonight and tomorrow to make sure I’m ready for Friday.”

Fingers crossed.