Nets looking for way to contain 76ers' Joel Embiid
Joel Embiid of the 76ers puts up a shot during the fourth quarter against the Nets at Barclays Center on Feb. 11. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Shortly after scoring 52 points against the Boston Celtics last week, Joel Embiid walked into the locker room, peeled off his jersey and tossed it toward a laundry hamper. When the shirt fell short, Embiid shrugged.
“I’m not hot anymore,” Embiid explained.
Nets fans can only wish that was the case. Embiid is so hot heading into the playoffs that he is the single biggest reason nearly every pundit has the No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers quickly dispensing with the No. 6 Nets in their first round series which opens Saturday in Philadelphia.
Embiid, who won his second consecutive NBA scoring championship after finishing the season with a career-high 33.1 scoring average, seems to be on the precipice of winning his first MVP, after finishing as the runner-up the past two seasons.
How do you stop a player like Embiid? You don’t, says Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. The goal instead is to make him work for everything he gets. The Nets will look for their 215-pound center Nic Claxton to be the primary defender on the 280-pound Embiid.
Claxton, who has the chance of making an all-defensive team this year, has a chance to slow Embiid down. But the Nets know they are going to give him plenty of help, considering that just how physical of a player Embiid is.
“It’s a group effort,” Vaughn said after the team’s practice on Tuesday. “We talked a long time last night as a group, just discussing, because you’re not only discussing what has happened but you’re discussing what could potentially happen. You got to discuss rotations and situational things, special situations.
“He’s a load and he’s proven that he can show up and play. So we got to make it tough for him.”
If Embiid didn’t have enough reasons to feel good about his game heading into the playoffs, the 76ers big man was named the Eastern Conference player of the Month for games played in March and April. Over his final 22 games of the season, Embiid averaged 33.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. Philadelphia went 15-7 in those games.
“I mean, yeah, the challenge is on everyone’s mind,” Joe Harris said of the mindset going up against Embiid. “Joel is an MVP caliber player, 33 points a game, dominant on both ends. I think the big thing with us is how often he gets to the line. Twelve free throw attempts a game. I don’t think you’re going to completely limit his scoring ability but if you can limit some of his free ones, he shoots 86% from the line so if you can limit him being there even a little bit, I think it can be helpful for us.”
Mikal Bridge thinks they are going to have to get contributions from everyone.
“Yeah, just team defense,” Bridges said when asked how the team planned to approach Embiid. “This year, I think he should win MVP. It just takes a team, you know. I don’t think anyone can guard him one-on-one in the world. So just team defense and you’ve got to play for each other.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
