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Tim good morningESPN
After Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid made his way to the free throw line in a 117-109 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, Celtics goalkeeper Marcus Smart expressed dissatisfaction with the way he was officiated. the game.
Embiid made and made more free throws than the Celtics did as a team, going 17 of 21 from the line, compared to 13 of 20 for Boston. The Sixers finished 36th out of 45 as a team.
“I can’t beat that,” Smart said. “It’s hard to win like that.”
It’s hard to win, point, when Embiid – who finished with 42 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals – plays the way he did against Boston as he continued to argue for firmly in the league race for the MVP Award until the first month of the season.
No matter what defender was thrown at him – whether it was Tristan Thompson, who started, or Daniel Theis, who closed – Embiid had his way, scoring in double numbers in each of the first three quarters and then scoring six points. in the final seven minutes, along with getting a key theft, to help the Celts drive them away.
Part of that stretch, however, included Embiid making three trips on the foul line – trips that Smart made, in part, by beautifying the contact.
“It’s hard,” Smart said. “It’s hard. Especially when we have our hands raised many times, and he pulls and receives the call, and then, at the other end, we have our boys attacking the rim, coming in contact, and we just don’t get the whistle. It’s It’s hard to play like that.
“If the roles were reversed, I would do it every time. I mean I would be activated and if every time I throw my arms up or every time I touch myself, I go to the free throw line. I mean, it’s kind of hard to you don’t get into a rhythm like this when you shoot 21 free throws alone and allow yourself to hack on the other end.
“It’s hard, but we fought. The team did a good job. We were right there to win and try to repeat it on Friday.”
Embiid was informed during his post-game interview about Smart’s comments. Of course, the big man had a few thoughts about how Smart saw the game being played, pointing out that Smart is quite well known for selling calls to officials.
“Did Marcus Smart just tell me I’m struggling a lot?” Embiid said. “Come on. I’m sure he knows himself and he knows his game. He does a lot of it. And I don’t think he does. I mean, if you watch basketball and you’re a student of the game and you’re actually careful during the game. “Every foul is a foul. Probably not everyone sounds like the last one. There are three minutes left, I went up, and that was a mistake and they knew it, but they didn’t call- o. So there are a lot of things they don’t appeal to and there are a lot of things they call because they have to.
“The game is physical. Other teams tend to try to be extra physical against me. And I think I’m just smarter than everyone else. I’m just taking advantage of him. I’m just taking advantage of the way I’m guarded. You can call me that, no I know, the IQ of basketball, like you get your hands on it, I’ll take advantage of it and get to the free throw line, because I know that. I’m a great free throw shooter and it’s a better chance for me to help. the team to win in those situations. “
What was clear on Wednesday was that, even if one or two wrong calls could be argued, Embiid was the dominant figure in the game. With Jayson Tatum seated, the Celtics had four players who finished with at least 19 points: Jaylen Brown (26), Smart (25), Theis (23) and Kemba Walker (19 in just 22 minutes).
But despite this offensive result, the Celtics couldn’t do anything with Embiid all night. He used his size advantage to get one clean look at the basket after another.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens, when asked about Embiid’s repeated attempts to participate in charity, simply said that his team needs to do a better job to prevent him from going there.
“We have to do our best to play without fouling,” Stevens said. “I go back and look at each one, I realize what we can do better. He will score some, but 42 is too much. It will be hard to win a game when the best player on the other team scores 42 points.
“We need to get back to how we can be better. Not only did he score those points, but he also doubled pretty well on a few occasions that led to three points. It had a huge impact on the game tonight and it was great. “
Wednesday’s game was the second time in eight days that Embiid had 40 points at home against an Eastern Conference powerhouse. He scored 45 points, including 35 points in the second half and overtime, Jan. 12 against the Miami Heat.
The win improved Philadelphia to 10-2 when Embiid plays this season. Coach Doc Rivers and Embiid’s teammates sang his praises afterwards.
“It’s not a way, it’s a MVP caliber [play]”said Tobias Harris, who had 22 points.” Evening after night, he controls the game, he controls the paint.
“[He’s] we definitely put in a MVP year and one of the biggest things is that we continue to support him game after game and progress, even he himself progresses, throughout this year. But I’m happy for him, because that’s what he put in and when you win or succeed as a team, you get that kind of notoriety, for sure. “