Joel Embiid has finally done it. After three playoff series losses against the Boston Celtics, he and the Philadelphia 76ers managed to take down his long-time tormentor, and he did it with the first Game 7 victory of his career — a 109-100 decision in Boston on Saturday night. Embiid was spectacular in the victory, racking up a game-high 34 points and 12 rebounds to go along with six assists. Embiid’s Game 4 return after an emergency appendectomy helped precipitate Boston’s first blown 3-1 series lead in franchise history. It was quite possibly the best playoff game of his career.
But after the defeat, Celtics star Jaylen Brown didn’t seem thrilled with how Embiid came by some of his points. When speaking with reporters, Brown seemed to accuse Embiid of foul-baiting to help push Philadelphia over the top.
“Embiid put a lot of pressure on us,” Brown said. “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.”
Embiid attempted 11 free throws in Game 7 and made nine of them. That’s more or less in line with how often he got to the line during the regular season. Embiid averaged 8.8 free throw attempts per game, but his low minutes had something to do with that. He averaged 10 attempts per 36 minutes, and he played 39 minutes in Game 7, so 11 is right in line with that figure. At his peak, Embiid led the NBA with 11.8 attempts per game in 2022.
Brown fouled Embiid personally twice. Both came in the fourth quarter. With roughly eight-and-a-half minutes remaining, Brown switched onto Embiid in the post, and when Embiid went to catch an entry pass, a push from Brown ended with Embiid on the ground. Around four minutes later, again with Brown on Embiid in the post, Tyrese Maxey entered the ball into him. As Embiid and Brown fought for position, Brown ended up on the floor this time, though he was still whistled for the foul.
Joel Embiid, 76ers finally vanquish their Celtics demons in historic — and cathartic — Game 7 win
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.
