Should the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers meet in the playoffs, Evan Turner believes Marcus Smart can “shut down” big man Joel Embiid.
Speaking on FanDuel TV, “I’m taking Celtics every single day… Marcus Smart – if he has to shut down Embiid, maybe he can do it… he’s done it before,” Turner said.
“I’m taking Celtics every single day… Marcus Smart – if he has to shut down Embiid, maybe he can do it… he’s done it before” 👀@thekidet on which team he’d take in a series – #Celtics or #76ers #RunItBack with @ChandlerParsons @bansky & @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/g2gxkzrurI
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) March 22, 2023
With both teams competing for the second and the third seed, chances are they would likely meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals if they get past the first round. And on that count, Turner strongly feels that Smart would get the better of the center.
It should be noted that Boston does have bigs in the form of Al Horford, who can be a handful for Embiid, but Smart’s athleticism and his tenacity could be the X-factors when he gets the tough task of fending off the Sixers star.
Marcus Smart And Joel Embiid Have History
It’s hard to forget that altercation between Marcus Smart and Joel Embiid earlier this year when both teams met.
Both players got into a tangle during the game that saw Embiid drag the defender down with him. The referees punished Smart for the offense even though the video replays showed Embiid to be the one at fault. This didn’t sit well with the Celtics star, who later told the media postgame that he refrained from “cracking Embiid’s head.”
“The fact that I am the only one that got a foul is something that’s beyond me, the defending DPOY. That’s how he gets treated? As I said, it’s maturity. I could have cracked his head open, but I didn’t. That’s the maturity we have. We move on from it, it is what it is, and control what we can control.”
And when and if these two share the floor, expect the fireworks to flare up again. At the time of writing, both the Celtics and Sixers are in playoff bound, and the former will look to get their hands on the silverware after failing to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Expect a tough skirmish between these two if they meet in the NBA playoffs.
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