After a 96-84 win in Game 2, the Philadelphia 76ers seem firmly in control of their first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets.
Some of that decline is because the 76ers have used him so much more often in the pick-and-roll this season, pulling him off the low block and often getting him touches around the free-throw line and in the middle of the floor.
As Game 2 went along, they became more aggressive in doubling Embiid on the catch, instead of waiting for him to make his first move, and he absolutely picked them apart.
Embiid might not get as much credit for his offensive versatility as Nikola Jokic but his combination of passing, ball-handling and shooting is still unbelievably rare.
As things rolled into the third quarter we saw the 76ers become even more intentional about leveraging those double teams. Watch Mikal Bridges briefly lose Tobias Harris here on the baseline as P.J.
We don’t have CourtOptix stats available for playoffs but it’s worth noting that Embiid was statistically more effective at handling double-teams this year.
He’s still doing damage as a scorer and shooter from those elbow and top-of-the-key touches but he’s also been absolutely fantastic as a passer.
This is an outlier reflection of a major evolution in Embiid’s game over the past few years.
On the off chance you haven’t, Domantas Sabonis was knocked to the floor chasing a rebound after colliding with Klay Thompson, he rolls into Draymond Green’s legs and appears to “grab” one of them.
I don’t really have anything else to say here other than, to me, Sabonis’ conduct did not look egregious and Draymond’s absolutely did.
It’s not yet clear if Ja Morant will be available for Game 2 against the Lakers Wednesday night but it seems like there’s a very good chance he’ll be out of the lineup after injuring his hand in Game 1.
Morant missed 21 games this season, one of which Jones also sat, which means we have a decent sample for comparison.
The Grizzlies’ offense has actually been much more efficient in games Jones has started, although take the results with a grain of salt — just three of the games he started came against the other nine teams with a top-10 defense.
20, 2020, in the NBA Bubble, the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers 111-88 with just 10 points from LeBron James.
All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands.
