In March of 2019, Marcus Smart objected to a Joel Embiid screen, pushed the Sixers center to the floor and earned an expulsion for his display of anger.
There was no campaign between the two Wednesday night in the Sixers’ 117-109 victory over the Celtics. However, after the match, Smart let it be known that he was not satisfied. Embiid looked like 21 free throws and did not like the way he did it.
“It’s hard, especially when we have a lot of hands in his hands and he swings and he calls,” Smart told reporters. ‘And on the other hand, our guys attacked the edge, got a lot of contact, and we just did not get the whistle. It’s hard to play like that. It’s hard.
“If the roles were reversed, I would do it every time. I will also continue if I go to the free throw line every time I throw my arms up or every time I am touched. It’s quite difficult to get into a rhythm that way if you shoot 21 free throws alone and allow them to hit on the other side. It’s hard. But we struggled, the team did a good job. We were just there to win ourselves over. Turn around and play Friday. ”
Embiid, who said his’ whole body feels great ‘after staying in Philadelphia during the Sixers’ recent road trip due to pain in his right knee, was later briefed on the gist of Smart’s remarks.
His reaction is reminiscent of Ben Simmons’ comments on Jared Dudley’s assessment that Simmons was an average half-time player.
“It comes from Jared Dudley,” Simmons said during the 2019 playoffs about the veteran forward, pushing away the idea that he had to say a lot about Dudley’s opinion. “Come.”
‘Marcus Smart just told me I’m complaining a lot? Come on, ”Embiid said on Wednesday. ‘I know for sure he knows himself and he also knows his game. He does a lot of it. ”
Unlike Simmons, however, Embiid went on to defend his error defense as a valid skill.
‘And I do not think I do it. “If you watch basketball and if you’re a student of the match and if you really pay attention during the match, we all see every offense, I’m offended, ‘said Embiid. ‘They probably did not call everyone – like the last time there were three minutes left and I went up, it was a mistake, and they knew it, but they did not mention it. So there are many who do not call them, and there are many who call them because they have to.
“The game is physical. Other teams tend to be extra physical against me, and I think I’m just smarter than everyone else – I’m just taking advantage of it. I just take advantage of how they guard me. You can call it, I do not know, basketball IQ. If you put your hand up there, I’ll take advantage of it and get to the release line, because I know I’m an amazing shooter and this is a better chance for me to help the team win in situations like this. ”
With his 17-for-21 performance, Embiid has now made 99 free kicks and tried 118 over his first 12 games this season. His career best for attempts per game is 10.1 during the 2018-19 season, and he is currently close to that pace despite playing fewer minutes on average. His 83.8 percent mark of the offense is great for a typical 7-footer, though he was not happy with Wednesday’s four times.
“Too many free throws were missed,” he said. “But as a team, we did a great job, especially at the right times. They entered that run in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter (and then) the bankers and gave us a spark. Tobias (Harris) had a wonderful evening. Like I said, he’s playing at an All-Star level, as he should be – and he should be an All-Star.
“Shake (Milton) was great – the sixth man of the year. Matisse (Thybulle), you can also include him in the defensive player of the year (talk). And Ben is Ben. He still does an excellent job of to get us together, to guard the best player of the other team and do a good job. ”
Smart tried seven of the Celtics’ 20 free throws Wednesday, making four. He prefers the release column to look more even on Friday night, though he probably can’t do much on the track to promote Embiid’s excellent interior.