Joel Embiid has finally achieved a significant milestone in his basketball career. After enduring three playoff series defeats at the hands of the Boston Celtics, he and the Philadelphia 76ers managed to overcome this longstanding obstacle. Their triumph came with a hard-fought Game 7 victory, a 109-100 win in Boston on Saturday night. Embiid delivered an outstanding performance, leading the game with 34 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out six assists. His return in Game 4, following an emergency appendectomy, was pivotal in Boston’s unprecedented collapse from a 3-1 series lead. This might stand as one of the finest playoff performances of Embiid’s illustrious career.
However, the loss left Celtics star Jaylen Brown less than satisfied, particularly with how Embiid accumulated some of his points. In a post-game exchange with reporters, Brown insinuated that Embiid benefited from questionable fouls that tipped the balance in Philadelphia’s favor.
“Embiid put a lot of pressure on us,” Brown remarked. “On all of our bigs and our guards. We didn’t really have an answer for him. We tried a bunch of different things. He’s a big body. He also was flopping around. He got some extra calls, and they rewarded him for that, but that’s the league we’re in.”
During Game 7, Embiid attempted 11 free throws, converting nine of them. This frequency aligns with his regular-season performance, where he averaged 8.8 free throw attempts per game, although his minutes on the court influenced this number. Per 36 minutes, Embiid averaged 10 attempts, and he played 39 minutes in this crucial game, making his 11 attempts consistent with past performance. Previously, in 2022, he led the NBA with 11.8 attempts per game.
In the decisive game, Brown committed two fouls on Embiid, both in the fourth quarter. Around eight-and-a-half minutes before the game ended, Brown switched onto Embiid in the post. As Embiid attempted to catch an entry pass, a nudge from Brown sent him to the ground. Not long after, with Brown again defending Embiid in the post, Tyrese Maxey delivered the ball to Embiid. In their tussle for position, it was Brown who found himself on the floor, yet he was still penalized for the foul.
This victory marks a historic and cathartic moment for Joel Embiid and the 76ers, as they finally exorcise their Celtics demons in a memorable Game 7 showdown.
John Gonzalez
Another possible point of frustration for Brown was how he was officiated throughout the series. Brown was called for 10 offensive fouls in the first six games, most notably for using his off-arm to generate space as a driver. When asked about those whistles after Game 6, he responded, “I got nothing for you.”
Players are rarely happy with officiating. Either they didn’t get enough whistles or their opponent got too many. But no team got to the line less than the Celtics this season, and Embiid has been among the NBA’s best foul-drawers for most of his career. A free-throw disparity was to be expected here, and even if Embiid got away with a few flops, as Brown said, that’s the league, and it was on Boston to overcome whatever he threw at them. They couldn’t, and their season is now over.
