Joel Embiid Post Game 7 Loss To Celtics: ‘Harden And I Can’t Win Alone’

Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers admitted that he needs to work on his game in the offseason following the heartbreaking defeat in Game 7. The Sixers were eliminated from the second round for the sixth time in six years after falling to the Boston Celtics by a humiliating score of 112-88.

James Harden and Embiid both struggled to get into a groove on the court, scoring only 24 points (8 for 29) combined. Given this, Embiid declared his intention to improve his game during the offseason in order to return stronger the next season.

Joel Embiid Post Game 7 Loss To Celtics: ‘Harden And I Can’t Win Alone’

The Philadelphia 76ers had the opportunity to make a statement by winning and go to the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to Joel Embiid. Instead, the greatest chapter of his career came to an end with a pathetic passage as he faltered in the heat of battle against the Boston Celtics, losing Game 7 by a lopsided score as the Sixers’ season came to an end.

Now that James Harden is almost probably going to become a free agent, the Sixers must determine what to do with him. Together this season, he and Embiid shone in a variety of pick-and-roll situations.

Embiid mentioned how he and Harden put the Sixers in a position to maybe win this series when questioned about his relationship with Harden.

“I’ve got to be better, and I will be better. That’s what I’m focused on,” Embiid said.

Embiid then moved the emphasis to the need for development among his teammates, hinting that he and Harden didn’t receive much assistance during the series:

“All of us, we’ve gotta come back and find ways to just keep improving and help the team,” Embiid said.“You can’t win alone. I can’t win alone. Me and James, we just can’t win alone. That’s why basketball is played five-on-five. So, we just need our guys to try to keep finding ways to get better, and we will be fine.”

Many people have focused on the precise phrase in Embiid’s comments when he says that he and his star teammate can’t win by themselves, which seems odd given how well they played in Game 7.

Over the course of six games versus Boston, Embiid averaged 25.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 3.0 blocks per contest while shooting 42.1% overall. Since being selected third overall in 2014, the MVP big man has yet to play in a conference championship game. The Sixer’s only participation in the conference finals in the history of the team was in 2001.

In his postgame news conference for Game 7, Joel Embiid made headlines by making a joke about the Sixers’ poor season. In a lighthearted allusion to a postgame statement made by Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who claimed that there is no such thing as failure in athletics, Embiid was asked if he thought the season had been a failure.

“Like someone said, ‘It’s not a failure, it’s steps to success.’”

 

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