There was a notion that as a result of the 76ers stole Monday’s Game 1 with out him, that they’d give Joel Embiid some further relaxation to get better from his harm and never rush him again for Game 2, realizing that they had some margin for error after already taking home-court benefit from the Celtics.
That thought in the end didn’t maintain water. Embiid – who was named the NBA MVP on Tuesday night time – returned for Wednesday night time’s Game 2. It got here as considerably of a shock. Embiid, who suffered a sprained LCL in his proper knee throughout Game 3 of the Sixers’ first-round sweep of the Nets, had not even resumed operating as of Monday, in keeping with coach Doc Rivers. The middle was listed as uncertain on Tuesday.
But even with a 1-0 collection lead in hand, Embiid was again.
“It’s logical thinking,” Rivers mentioned of the thought of giving him some further relaxation. “But players, when they’re healthy, they should play. And when they’re not, they shouldn’t play. That would be my answer. So I can guarantee you if Joel’s playing he’s healthy. If he’s not – I don’t get involved in it a lot, honestly. I leave that up to smarter people than me to decide. But we’re not going to risk him for anything.”
According to The Athletic, shortly after accepting the MVP award on Tuesday, Embiid circled to his teammates in the course of the celebration and advised them, “I’m back.”
Embiid appeared to show a nook on Tuesday. Was Rivers shocked he would swimsuit up?
“I don’t know if I’ll be surprised,” Rivers mentioned. “I’ve gone back and forth on it, just watching him move. If you had asked me two days ago, yeah, I’d say tonight, I’d be pleasantly surprised. But watching him move the last couple of days, if he plays, I like how he’s moving.”
The Celtics missed a primary alternative whereas Embiid recovered from the harm. By blowing Game 5 final week towards the Hawks, the beginning of the second spherical was pushed again two days. If that they had held on, Game 1 towards the Sixers would have been Saturday, with Game 2 on Monday. Then they blew their one likelihood towards the non-Embiid Sixers, letting James Harden rating 45 factors in a shocking Game 1 win for Philadelphia on Monday.
The Celtics have been ready for Embiid’s return, and even anticipated it.
“It impacts everything, to be honest,” Malcolm Brogdon mentioned. “It’s a different style of play that we have to play defensively because they have a dominant scorer on the floor – the MVP of the league. He’s an incredible scorer, so you’ve got to take that serious, you’ve got to change the way you play, you gotta help. It’s not a one-man job to defend him. So it’ll be a team effort.”
Smart cleared to play
Marcus Smart was listed as questionable for Game 2 as a result of a chest contusion, however he was feeling ok to play. The level guard mentioned he initially harm his chest after a fall in the course of the Atlanta collection, and re-aggravated it in Game 1 with just a few pictures to it.
“Feeling OK. Better than I was (Tuesday),” Smart mentioned. “I used to be hurting actually unhealthy, nevertheless it began with the autumn in Atlanta. Kind of bruised my sternum, rib cage space, the best way that I landed. So it’s simply plenty of strain on me, respiratory, issues like that. Then yesterday I took a pair hits instantly into the spot, one proper after the opposite brought about extra trauma to it. Some extra swelling in my sternum, extra bruising clearly, however similar to a bone bruise.
“There’s really nothing I can do. I have to take my anti-inflammatory and hopefully that helps, and put some padding there and see how it goes.”
Tatum locations 4th for MVP
There was some extent early within the season when Jayson Tatum was seen because the MVP frontrunner, however the Celtics star’s hopes of profitable the award pale in the course of the second half of the season. Still, Tatum completed fourth in MVP voting, the best he’s completed in his profession. He earned one third-place vote, 89 fourth-place votes and eight fifth-place votes, ending behind Embiid, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetekounmpo.
Tatum’s numbers dipped after the All-Star break because the Celtics misplaced the No. 1 seed within the East, main him to fall out of the MVP race.
Embiid led the NBA in scoring at 33.1 factors per recreation whereas remaining dominant defensively. His counterparts on the Celtics thought the 76ers star was worthy of being named MVP after ending second every of the earlier two seasons.
“He deserved it. It was really that simple,” Brogdon mentioned. “He’s had an incredible season, he’s an incredible player. He deserved it.”
Missed calls favor 76ers
The NBA acknowledged three missed calls within the closing two minutes of Game 1, in keeping with the league’s Last Two Minute Report, together with one which led to an enormous momentum shift in favor of the 76ers.
The Celtics led by 4 with 1:48 to play when the league mentioned Harden ought to have been whistled for a foul after tripping Tatum on his drive to the basket. With Tatum on the bottom, the Sixers then took full benefit of a 5-on-4 transition alternative as Tyrese Maxey accomplished a three-point play to chop Boston’s result in one with 1:37 to go. It was successfully a five-point swing.
The different two missed calls have been a pair of defensive three-second violations on Paul Reed with 1:56 left, then Tatum with 39 seconds to go. …
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens completed fifth in NBA Executive of the Year voting on Wednesday. Sacramento’s Monty McNair received the award.
Source: www.bostonherald.com