The Boston Celtics collapsed of their first-round playoff sequence in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers, squandering a 3-1 lead.
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown pins a number of the blame on the officiating. Following a 109-100 loss in Game 7 at TD Backyard in Boston on Saturday night time, he referred to as out the referees for giving 76ers middle Joel Embiid favorable calls.
Jaylen Brown calls out Joel Embiid for “flopping round”
“We did not actually have a solution for [Embiid],” Brown mentioned postgame. “We tried a bunch of various issues. He is a giant physique. He additionally was flopping round, he received some additional calls, and so they rewarded him for that.
“However that is the league we’re in. That is all I gotta say.”
Embiid, who scored 34 factors on Saturday, went to the road extra in Sport 7 than he did throughout the common season. The 7-foot, 280-pound middle tried 11 free throws in opposition to Boston, changing 9. Through the common season, he averaged 8.8 free-throw makes an attempt per sport. He shot barely extra from the foul line within the sequence in opposition to Boston, recording 9.3 makes an attempt per sport.
Nonetheless, that is the NBA, a league by which many star gamers flop to get to the charity stripe extra typically. Extra importantly, Boston has itself to blame for its postseason crumble, not the referees.
The Celtics’ lead slipped away due partially to abysmal three-point capturing. Per ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, Boston went 49-of-179 (27.4 p.c) from three-point vary in its 4 losses. In Sport 7, the staff shot 13-of-49 (27 p.c) from three.
Star ahead Jayson Tatum — who averaged 23.3 factors per sport within the sequence — lacking Sport 7 due to left knee tightness solely worsened the Celtics’ issues. Brown, being a defensive legal responsibility, additionally did not assist. The guard scored 33 factors on Saturday however posted a plus/minus of -16. (Plus/minus is calculated by taking the distinction between whole staff factors scored and whole staff factors allowed whereas a participant is on the court docket.)
“Clearly, we might have favored to shut it out … however Philadelphia is an effective basketball staff, and so they’ve gotten higher for the reason that common season,” Brown said (h/t ESPN’s Tim Bontemps). “It is the playoffs we knew it was going to be a struggle, and we did not count on nothing much less. Nothing to hold our head over. Received no regrets.”
However Boston definitely needs it had discovered a strategy to cease Embiid — who averaged 28 PPG within the sequence — even when it felt he acquired too many whistles.
