After the 76ers’ 24-point Game 7 drubbing at the hands of the Celtics, P.J. Tucker was asked how such a defeat could happen in a matchup of such magnitude.
“I don’t know,” Tucker said.
Allow me to venture a guess: Most teams will get crushed in a Game 7 when their two best players put up absolute stinkers.
There is quite a bit to unpack after this series. The future of the current build of the Sixers. The redemptive arc of Jayson Tatum. For now, we are going to focus on the unbelievably disappointing efforts of Joel Embiid and James Harden, who could not have had much worse games in an incredibly high-leverage moment.
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Together, the Sixers’ three-time MVP duo combined to shoot 8-of-29 for an insignificant 24 points on Sunday. Both were frequent targets defensively. Tatum more than doubled their scoring output by himself with 51 points. And for good measure, the Harden-Embiid duo’s nine combined turnovers eclipsed their total number of field goals made. Both players seemingly picked up where they left off in Game 6, which was choking away a fourth-quarter lead when Philly had a chance to close the series. It was a disastrous performance when their team needed them most.
Embiid looked stymied by Boston’s defense, which deserves a massive amount of credit. Al Horford’s individual defense on Embiid was fantastic. And the Celtics did a great job of walling off the paint, with Robert Williams’s insertion into the starting lineup paying big dividends. And yet … Embiid can’t be this inefficient. He’s too far into his career to struggle with doubles as much as he does. And that prevents him from playing in the paint as much as he should.
The MVP took only three shots in the restricted area, settling for way too many jumpers. Embiid shot 3-of-11 on two-point attempts outside the circle and was also 0-of-4 from three. While he deserves a ton of credit for how great of an elbow shooter he’s become, Embiid probably went to that well too often in this series instead of figuring out how to break down Boston’s defense. Yes, that’s easier said than done. And again, Boston was fantastic sealing off the paint. But is a Game 7 not when an MVP-caliber player is supposed to bend the game to his will? Didn’t Tatum do just that and find a way to overcome his own struggles?
Harden’s performance was perhaps even more flummoxing. His stepback will come and go. But it felt like several times on Sunday he would gain a step on his defender and have a lane to the rim, only to hurriedly pass the ball to the corner for a jump shot from a teammate the Celtics were leaving practically uncovered for a reason. Though Harden is skilled as a playmaker, that’s not good decision making, especially when those outside shots are continuing not to fall. Harden’s series was baffling overall. He had 87 points combined in Games 1 and 4. He scored only 67 in the other five games.
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Look, obviously basketball is not a two-person sport. And in the regular season, Boston was a much better team than Philadelphia overall. Still, the Sixers had a great chance in this series, in large part because these teams kept trading unserious performances. Even after Harden and Embiid struggled in the first 24 minutes of Game 7, they had an opportunity to salvage their playoff reputations with a clutch second half. Instead, they bricked their way to an embarrassing loss.
Sometimes, this sport is not very complicated. Yes, schemes matter to a great extent, and probably more than many people give them credit for. At the same time, in a Game 7 there are no surprise adjustments left on the board. Teams know what the other wants to run. In the way legends are cemented for coming up clutch, you have to wear the L when you come up this woefully short.
Embiid and Harden were awful Sunday. They went out in a dispiriting fashion. And they’ll rightfully have to answer questions about their playoff bonafides for at least another year, or until they get the chance to erase the memory of their latest failure. And if anyone looks back on Sunday’s Game 7 in the future, they’ll only need to look at Embiid’s and Harden’s stats to know why the Sixers were so thoroughly wiped out.
