Let it be said, Joel Embiid should carry Philadelphia to the heights of the NBA Eastern Conference until the end of the season. Again, after being affected for a long time by the Covid. A period during which the Sixers, at the top of the standings before that, had plummeted. With a big performance from his Cameroonian pivot, Philly won in Boston last night (108-103). Enough to climb to 6th place, with a positive balance (16-15).
Joel Embiid showed off all his basketball at TD Garden. The Sixer split 41 points (with the last three shots in the game for his team), 10 rebounds, but also 5 assists and 4 blocks. An impressive line of stats, despite the good performance on the Celtics side of Enes “Freedom” Kanter, as it must now be called.
But Boston’s Turkish pivot was not enough to completely deprive Embiid of his freedom. In a very tight match between the two East Coast rivals, it was Danny Green, with a shot from behind the arc less than two minutes from time, which allowed Philadelphia to come back in front (99-98). One of Embiid’s form lieutenants, with Seth Curry (26 points at 10/14) or Tobias Harris (25 points, 7 rebounds).
Before that, each team had had its moment. The Sixers had started well, Boston had returned to the break, and had a 5-point lead at the start of the last quarter. But Jayson Tatum was in trouble with his shot, as too often lately (17 points at 5/14), and only Jaylen Brown exceeded 20 units (30 points, at 9/22)… Joel Embiid ended up settle everyone and the case. With this defeat, the Boston Celtics are now in 9th place in the Eastern Conference.