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By Aman Sharma
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Bill Simmons took aim at Joel Embiid’s tendency to end up on the floor after the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-101 on Nov. 10.
The result lifted Boston to 9-2 and dropped Philadelphia to 9-3 in a matchup of the East’s two best clubs.
The Ringer founder, who has rooted for Boston his whole life, has watched Embiid hurt his team before, especially late in the clubs’ playoff series last season. His frustration this time centered on one sequence right before halftime.
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He didn’t buy that the Sixers center was as hurt as he looked.
“He goes down at the end of the first half and it’s just, it was an embarrassing play, right? He missed an easy shot and kind of landed funny and then went down like he’d been shot,” Simmons said.
On the play, Embiid missed a transition layup. He slipped on the landing, and his other foot caught the court at an awkward angle, tweaking his ankle. He limped off for halftime moments later.
Back for the start of the third quarter, he hit a 3-pointer almost right away. That didn’t soften the critique.
“The falling down, the flopping, it’s just hard to support. This is somebody who’s one of the best 75 players of all time,” Simmons said.
His athleticism took a hit, too. Simmons said Embiid “just has no lift anymore” and agreed with a comparison Zach made to Jamie Moyer, adding that Embiid is “turning into a junk baller” and has “moved into a different phase athletically.”
Philadelphia played Embiid 17 minutes in the first half, and he went 0-of-6 from the field, with two of those misses coming on 3-point tries. All nine of his points came on 11 free-throw attempts. He also grabbed five rebounds and committed two turnovers.
Paul George did the heavy lifting for Boston against his old team. The veteran forward, 36, poured in 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting, going 6-of-11 from 3-point range, and the Celtics won the fourth quarter 32-19 to build a lead as large as 29.
Jayson Tatum scored 21 points. Tyrese Maxey paced Philadelphia with 24, and LeBron James went 4-of-12 from the field for 11.
Boston chases its 10th win when it visits the Toronto Raptors on Nov. 11.
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