The 76ers had their former MVP, Joel Embiid, back on the roster today for Game 4 of the first-round series against the Celtics after missing several games due to an emergency appendectomy. Embiid finished the game with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists while going 9-21 from the field (42.9 FG%) and 1-6 from beyond the arc (16.7 3P%).
But unfortunately for the 76ers, that was not enough to tie the series as the Celtics blew them out by 32 points in Philadelphia (128-96). Following the game, Embiid spoke to the media and opened up on what his recovery journey has been like over the past 16 days since his surgery.
“I mean, a lot. I mean, when it first started, I couldn’t walk while going to the hospital. Yeah, and just dealing with some of the stuff that came from it [hinting to complications from the surgery]. So, just adjusting and dealing with that, I don’t want to get into the details, but it’s been tough dealing with that.”
“So when it happens, you look at it like ‘ok, the playoffs are here’, you feel pretty good going into the playoffs, and all of a sudden this thing happens, something you can’t control.”
“What am I going to do? Cry about it? You’ve just got to take it off, move on, and try to do the best job possible to give yourself the best chance to get back and play,” concluded Embiid.
A typical timeline for a player to return from an appendectomy is 23 days, which means that Embiid came back a week sooner than when he was expected to. Clearly, the 76ers have reached a time of desperation as every game from here onwards in this series is a win-or-go-home situation for them.
Joel Embiid Details 76ers’ Key Approach Against Celtics In Game 5
The key difference in both teams tonight was their shot-making, especially from beyond the arc. The Celtics shot 24-53 from three-point range (45.3%), and the 76ers shot 9-30 (30.0%) from deep. Embiid recognizes this difference, and while they cannot stop the Celtics from shooting, he thinks the 76ers can do a better job with the rebounding.
“We know what we didn’t do well, obviously. I think they believe in what they believe, which is shoot a lot of threes, and they believe they can make enough of it to win every single game. So their offensive rebounding hurt us a little bit, a lot actually,” said Embiid.
“Since threes equal long rebounds, and I feel like we kept coming in, instead, we should go towards our man and check them before even looking at the ball. Hence, an adjustment.”
“We’ve had our problems all season, so we’ve got to do a better job. Just going in with the mentality of one at a time. Taking care of some of the mistakes we made today, obviously, we’ve got to make more shots. We didn’t do that in Game 1, but we came back in Game 2 and made a lot of them,” Embiid concluded.
The 76ers are now headed to Boston for Game 5. Only 13 teams have completed a comeback from being down 3-1 in a series, in over 283 times this has happened. Giving the 76ers a less than 4.4% chance as per NBA history to bounce back from this situation.
Do you think the 76ers can defy the odds from here? Or are they not going beyond the first round? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
