That’s what The Garden had on Saturday night — the entirety of Joel Embiid’s experience, the Process and the past 10 years with the Sixers. It depends on the health of the unhealthy person.
They went wild against the Knicks in the first quarter, rallying behind Embiid, who looked mobile and rejuvenated. Philadelphia had an early 12-point lead, and no matter how much joint discomfort the bench had, whether the fans admitted it or not, there was no room inside MSG for Embiid to fly around easily for the visiting team. I felt like I could go home with a victory.
Embiid was limping except until halftime. He often limps. The 30-year-old has been in the league for 10 years, appearing in 433 games with an average of 43 per season. That’s an absence. On Saturday, he completed an extraordinary athletic maneuver: a self-alley-oop off the backboard, landed awkwardly and collapsed.
It was as if his father, a weekend warrior, was putting in more effort than his physical strength.
At this point, Embiid had 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He returned after half-time with blood staining his white tights around his surgically repaired left knee. And Embiid only made two more field goals in the second half. He was 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter. He wasn’t the same either.
The most notable statistic is that the Knicks grabbed 16 rebounds (8 of them offensive) in the fourth quarter, and Joel Embiid had none. His average speed in playoff games was 3.1 miles per hour, according to Second Spectrum. Snail’s pace. He was faster and covered more distance in the regular season.
Indeed, Embiid is also, without much debate, the greatest scorer in the NBA. He’s so good that if the Sixers had had a center available, the Knicks would have sacrificed all of their draft picks in a trade.
That’s also the point. As we’ve pointed out many times, this series hinges on Embiid’s production and availability. It’s been the story of the Sixers for years, and it will continue in Monday’s Game 2 at MSG. Let’s call it the Embiid paradox. He’s too big for defenses to stop him and too big for his knee to hurt.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse had a pretty sound game plan to deal with Embiid’s unreliable hands. Few could stop Jalen Brunson over the final month, so Nurse employed a zonal scheme to contain the point guard. Brunson did not miss 18 shots per game all season. Then he did it in the playoffs because Philadelphia refused to give him a regular spot.
Josh Hart said he was rudely left wide open and was no joke. Watching the film, there were several times when he had enough time and space on the 3-point line to set up a three-course picnic. That ultimately backfired on the Sixers, as Hart sank three treys in the fourth quarter (though the last one was a hard-contested, off-balance shot). But as Hart acknowledged, it’s a smart strategy for a player who shot 31 percent from 3-point range during the regular season.
“I think their plan was obviously focused on getting the ball out of Jalen’s hands,” said Miles McBride, who made five 3-pointers. “It’s the poison they chose, [we] We have to make them pay. ”
Maybe the nurse will change. Perhaps he will continue to bet that Hart will miss his open looks. After the initial game plan is revealed, it’s a fun game of chess between the coaches.
But frankly, it doesn’t matter if Embiid leaves or moves at half the speed. That was repeated in Game 1.
