Joe Mazzulla: “What changed in this series was Joel Embiid came back and they’re a completely different team”
Louder for the people in the back
The slander in game 4 was crazy lol. Guy came back from surgery early after not playing for a month. No shit he was gonna be rusty. Ngl super satisfying to see Embiid getting a bit back into rhythm afterwards and flipping this series on its head. He was a beast.
Game 4 you could tell he was getting his legs under him and it was great the Celtics put him in actions a lot to tire him out. That clearly didn’t work in game 5. Game 6, Celtics big rotation felt truly hopeless against him.
fwiw, it was 17 days
Just earlier today people with 76ers flairs were saying he should be traded to the rockets or something. Sad
I mean, there’s definitely a pretty solid argument for trading him this offseason while he still has some perceived value. This time last year he was discussed as an extremely negative value asset because of all the health issues and the contract being so big and so many years.
The return won’t make you better than you are right now
I’m not a Philly fan lol. But if the FO thinks seasons like he had last year are going to be more common than the season he had this year, just having players that are simply reliably available could be viewed as an improvement.
It’s really just a gamble on his health either way. The more confident you are in it, the less you should want to trade him, and vice versa
FO should honestly just do what he wants to do. He’s sacrificed so much for the city. IDGAF.
What if you traded him for another elite big man, who doesn’t have the same injury history? Someone who can score and play defense and is rock solid as far as their availability? Someone like Anthony Davis.
No. Fuck off. He can do what he wants. He’s still saving our team. Look at what Joe says here. He’s been through so much bullshit with us. If we want any karma we need to do right by him.
No need for the hostilities, geez lmao
Chill out dude
Trade him for what? What are you going to get back that moves you closer to a title?
Embiid has proven he is a complete mismatch in the playoffs and necessary piece for Philly.
Philly is good enough to make the playoffs without him; if he’s healthy for the playoffs, then you have added all-nba level production.
Now, Philly can make a finals run. The east will remain weak for years.
Yeah, if you only consider the positives and none of the negatives, I wouldn’t trade him either.
Right so the negatives are health + contract. The return for Embiid won’t be high because of his contract.
So, is Philly rebuilding or trying to compete because you are not getting anything back that would make Philly more competitive.
Philly will make the playoffs every year with Maxey + VJ bc the East sucks. Embiid turns them from a first round exit into finals contenders.
He hasn’t played 40 games any of the last 3 seasons, and played less than 20 last year. Him staying healthy through this playoffs is still a question mark, let alone whether he will be available for next years playoffs and so on. He’s also only getting older, which typically only exacerbates health issues. With his general lack of availability, it’s not crazy to think just getting expirings back for him would let them build a more reliable roster around Maxey and VJ.
I get that they just won a series and he was a big part of that, but if he’s not available which is often the case, he’s almost 40% of the salary cap just sitting on the bench.
So considering everything you just said he has hardly any trade value at all right?
That trade value will drop even more if the Sixers are the ones shopping him around as that’s going to be a red flag for other teams who will think somethings seriously wrong with him if they want to trade him after he just showed just how dominating he can this postseason.
I just don’t see any world where the value they get back is worth as much as the potential he has to absolutely dominate in the postseason in the most valuable position on the court.
What about the potential for him to completely tank their season if he isn’t available?
Fuck
That’s a pull quote for Joel’s career
Makes a killer opening to a highlight video or retrospective
Joseph Vincent take notes
I heard the Sixers were better with “Adem Bona”
Joel Embiid gives me a Bona
See your doctor if your Bona lasts more than 4 games
He’s a suitor! He’s Bonafide!
I really did like Bona. Can’t hit an open layup, but great defense and big man intangibles.
Obviously Embiid is better, but as a fan of a team with one rotation big, I really liked him.
If Bona could ever learn that he has 2 hands, he could be a really nice player. Has good positioning, handles switches well, and boxes out pretty damn well. Just cannot catch a ball, whether its from a pass or off the rim for a rebound
Idiotic fouls though. Sort of the classic high energy player that wants to jump at everything, go for the big block, and put a body on everyone.
Same problem since UCLA Kenny Nwuba was a complete liability but he got 20 minutes a night cuz Bona couldn’t stop making the stupidest fucking fouls
Embiid coming back gave Sixers fans a damn boner
I heard embiid was better off retiring
Don’t look at the game thread from game 4. You’ll find a lot of individuals that have zero attention span.
70% of peak Embiid was essentially the best player on the court tonight . He’s still a top 10 player and has a huge impact on both ends. This is why the Celtics should’ve tried to close the series out as fast as possible. He changed the whole dynamic
They need to look at game 2. At home lol
He’s better when he’s partially injured and slower imo.
He’s more intentional on offense and not reckless in defense
I heard a rumor Joe got the whole team in the locker room before the series and told them we don’t want to close this out as fast as possible
I mean he’s not wrong
We have 0 depth. Grimes edwards and drummond scored like 3 points today and thats as deep as we can go. We need our starters to all play 40
Which is why it’s still insane yall gave away McCain.
He would get abused on defense and people like you would make posts saying he’s dogshit and should be out of the league
To soon to bring that name up 😭
How’s he doing for okc btw
Pretty solid. Hasn’t gotten a lot of playoff minutes but he’s ready to play always. Really opens up the offense when he’s out there too.
He’s shooting 35% from the field & 20% from 3 .
What is he opening up? A brick store ?
I mean shit on Morey all you want for that move but it was clear he wasn’t going to get playoff minutes on the Sixers (right or wrong) and the rest of our team couldn’t cover him defensively without Embiid.
You’re really basing a lot on 14 FGAs and less than 10 3s attempted lol
This would be a great comment if that was the regular season slump with regular minutes. Guy is barely seeing the floor in the playoffs.
Yeah, the Thunder have the best depth in the league, the point is using his shooting splits on a beyond small sample is dumb as hell
Yea should’ve just said he isn’t cracking the playoff rotation.
I’m basing a lot off what he’s done in the playoffs ?
Yeah, I don’t think teams are changing up their defense of McCain in the playoffs based on an extremely small sample, he probably spaces the floor cuz teams know he can shoot as evidenced by his career 38% from 3, they’re not just gonna leave him open. But sure attempt to victory lap less than 20 FGAs lol
He’s not being played because he’s a defensive liability & even in the few minutes he’s played he’s shooting poorly . We were right to trade him
Put on your thunder flair your bias is showing .
McCain probably gonna have a similar path as Joe where he is playing garbage time for these playoffs. McCain next year though when better at defense is gonna be a different story though.
I was hopeful Joe had improved enough for playoff minutes but he’s been rough so far. He did just lose his grandma and it’s a small sample size, but either way I’m just thrilled we got the depth. That was really always one of the thunder’s shortcomings in any playoff run
Great, we love him so much lol thanks again
35% & 20% in the playoffs is great? Lol
No, but on his sample size kinda feels like a pointless thing to look at? He came to us and immediately averaged career highs from both 2 and 3, while showing hes a quick learner and making massive strides defensively.
Im confused why you asked the question if you didn’t want the answer?
I know the answer he’s not doing well in the playoffs & is unplayable . But we were in the wrong somehow for trading away an unplayable player .
Yall just won a game 7, everyone is in here celebrating you guys, and you’re in here choosing to be a dumbass😂
Lmk when you wanna SeLl HiGh on VJ
Buddy he’s not seeing the floor for a reason . You’re getting upset I’m pointing out the dude you traded for is playing 3 minutes a game shooting 20% from 3 in the playoffs.
The plan for McCain is probs more long term lol. He’s not gonna be a plus defender on okc when he joined them at the deadline. Okc never plays weak links on defense. The bet is he has a similar improvement route as joe who has become a far better defender from last year
Jaylen Brown’s +/- looks awful for tonight but that is a Joel Embiid/Andre Drummond stat not a Jaylen Brown stat.
Jaylen matched minutes with Embiid and then Drummond came in and got abused by Pritchard.
Grimes still had a positive impact on tonights game. He should be scoring 15 ppg off the bench with his skillset, but his defense and effort shouldn’t go unnoticed.
I thought he was good.
Between Embiid-Maxey-PG-VJ, you have more than enough fire power on offense. Grimes job is to be aggressive on defense and he did that.
Sure, you need to add some bench scoring but you can make that up by staggering the starters minutes in the playoffs.
Grimes is legit two way player tho he would be a top 7 player on any nba rotation tho
Grimes, Edwards, and Drummond is still good depth. Bench players never bring it every night that’s why they’re bench players
Philly’s starting 5 is way better than the Celtics’ starting 5 even fully healthy.
VJ pushes them over the top. He’s so good at so much
Love VJ man. It’s crazy that each of the top four picks in the 2025 draft basically came into the league playoff-ready as teenagers
Opposite of 2019
Man happy both VJ and CMB are balling out. These rookies have been owning this year
The real ROY. Still playing, still a major contributor, still defending, still hitting clutch shots and grabbing boards.
ESPECIALLY fully healthy. They might even be better than us
Yeah I wasn’t exactly sure how to phrase it but basically they’re way better lmao
Yeah there are a lot of dumbass casuals out there talking shit about the Cs losing to a 7 seed… this is a very talented team that got healthy at the perfect time (for them)
Celtics bench is elite though. Sixers got like 5 points from the bench tonight
The Sixers are pretty stacked
I’m not a fan of Embiid but kind of cool that he can still be a game-changer when healthy
Embiid is never fully healthy and he still is a top 5 player whenever he plays.
Top 5 is stretching it
How so? Dude is a certified two-way destroyer.
Hate the reckless way he plays the game but he’s a mismatch on both sides of the ball.
He isn’t top 5 anymore, the defense isn’t elite anymore, and the offense is a little worse. BUT still unbelievably impressive. A good example for why he isn’t top 5 is Kawhi, since he suffers the same injuries but is currently a bit better at both offense and defense than embiid
Which team does Kawhi play for? I wanna see how far they get. I’m new
Ah of course, Embiid must also be better than giannis by that logic right?
Double it and give it to the next person
Not exactly top 5 but at least pretty god damn close. The guy looked like the best player in the series against a team that has the guy who’ll probably finish 6th in MVP voting this year.
“Healthy”
😹
I don’t understand raptors flairs being salty towards Philly/Embiid. You guys won the championship that year lmao. Make it make sense
When Joel is healthy he is a top 5 player and the Sixers can beat anyone.
More often than not he is not healthy.
Embiid vs KAT is going to be theatre.
I’m obviously rooting for raps to extend their playoff run but I know the chances of raps making finals is slim to none. I’d like to see Embiid get some post season success. He gets so much hate for being such a great player.
Gonna be so toxic and amazing. LFG
Like a good cocktail
KAT? Lmao
I’m really hoping this is his year.
Interesting because I heard they were worse with embiid playing from your guy JB. Hmmm
Embiid dominated Game 5 and Game 7 and even when he had a somewhat off shooting night in Game 6, the attention he draws opens up the offense for everyone else
Id advise all Massachusetts-area women to avoid bars for the next week while Joe gets over this loss
And people were saying Adam Bona is better than Embiid. LMAO!
If only he would play in the post and not brick 10 3’s per game we could really cook
Let Embiid do whatever he wants. I had respect for him before, but after this series he can do no wrong.
🫡 gg
You too. You guys deserve this win. I wanted VJ to get ROTY.
This Celtics team had no player that could even slow down Embiid
You tried to guard him with Peyton Pritchard, you fraud
Now tell us what didn’t change over those last 3 games???
I give credit where it’s due Embiid is now a top 5 player. Anyone saying he actually has a greater legacy than Jokic or was more productive at their respective bests would be incorrect but Embiid right now is certainly better than jokic.
JB told us Sixers better without him
Well that was a fucking lie
People on this sub said we were better without embiid tho
This sub was really saying they are better without him after game 4. Because of that bs “move ball better”, “slows the offense” and all that crap they say.
100% truth
“What didn’t change in this series was our strategy - because I don’t have one.”
This what happens when you stayed out of what works. Shoulda pulled out the quizlet notes from the get go
Basketball Adam Gase
Maybe the dumbass Celtics “fans” should have listened to me
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1swkrpt/comment/oigau9e/?context=3
Dam homies downvoted you into oblivion 💀
It’s because he’s an insufferable doomer at all times
Do you want a medal? All you’ve done is hate on the Celtics for years so you’re bound to be right every now and then
You’re not even a real fan you don’t even care when they lose.
Now when did I say I didn’t care
Should’ve told his team before they lost, is he stupid
I’d rather have Garza and Queta foul out than watch Vuc try to guard Embiid. Too bad Joe only realized how unplayable he is in game 7.
Considering that Joel has had multiple 40+ point games against Vuc, and routinely abused him when he was on the bulls, it’s pretty insane to assume it would be different on the Celtics.
No Joe. You lost because you’re an arrogant coach all about analytics. Nothing will change with him at coach, nothing.
Mazzulla is absolutely right. It’s also true that he made a ridiculous decision to start Garza and Harper. For an experienced coach that was such a galaxy brained decision.
Trading Simons in hindsight was also a terrible move.
but casuals said embiid makes the sixers worse! he needs to retire, hes handicapping tyrese and vj. he slows down the pace so they can’t cook! advantage celtics
u were up 3-1 u bum
Boston offense: Chuck up 3 pointers and hope that they go in
They have beaten Embiid before. To me the big difference was the coach. If this was Doc, it wouldve been over by game 5
Also, you can’t count on hitting a bunch of threes as your entire strategy to win.
Sixers were 4-3 in the series but Joel was 3-1 and won his last three games after losing his first game back from appendicitis.
Yeah they had absolutely nothing for him.
What doesn’t change is the Celtics style in which they just jack the first vaguely open 3 every possession. Joe “I don’t care about COTY” Mazzulla also forgot Vucevic existed. No excuse for blowing 3-1 and losing 3⁄4 at home.
Going right in the Joel Embiid doc
Or the game plan for the Celtics to shoot 3’s even though they were ice cold. Bricking enough to build houses…
church, Joe, church
Could’ve used Anfernee Simons. We’ll take Jaylen Brown for Sharpe, Grant, and a couple firsts. Thanks. See you in Cancun.
I mean he’s not stupid and he’s not wrong
That’s his job to anticipate this, yeah Joël is gonna reck some asses on the court,we all know that
He aint lyin bro. Joel was everywhere tonight like a sneaky vet the ball just kept finding him off the glass.
Post appendectomy Embid is unstoppable
Hes right
But what happened in game 2?
Also—if Detroit wins tomorrow (I think they will) this also applies in the reverse to the loss of Franz in game 4
Sounds like he was unprepared