A quick exit from the playoffs could put 76ers coach Brett Brown’s job in jeopardy, and this quote from Joel Embiid probably won’t help him, either.
After an ugly Game 2 loss to the Celtics, the Philadelphia center seemed to be criticizing the lack of adjustments being made against Boston star Jayson Tatum.
“Jayson has been killing it. You have to find a way to get the ball out of his hands,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “They want me to stay back… but we’ve got to make adjustments. Something’s got to change. It feels too easy.”
The Celtics crushed the 76ers on Tuesday, 128-101, and Tatum went off for 33 points, five rebounds and five assists as Boston went up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Philadelphia, of course, is without Ben Simmons, its All-Star, do-it-all forward who is out following knee surgery.
“The message is some level of belief,” Brown told reporters afterwards. “I think that there is enough character, and there is enough talent in the room to respond.”
Otherwise, there could be real changes with the 76ers beyond the lineup ones Brown made ahead of Game 2. He started rookie Matisse Thybulle in place of Al Horford, and that backfired.
“This is the problem when you’re this confused. You’re switching your lineup after Game 1, right?” ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said during Celtics Pregame Live. “When I thought Philly played pretty good. And this is the confusing part about Al Horford where he don’t know how to fit in, where to fit in. Like, he don’t know his role. Brett Brown hasn’t done a great job of identifying his role from the very beginning of the season so it doesn’t surprise me.”