On Monday night, Joel Embiid did stuff like that against the Raptors, so Game 2 wasn’t much of a competition.
Fred Van Vleet had to play 44 minutes and pull up 16 threes, which tells you all you need to know about the fallout if the Raps lose two (closer to three since Gary Trent Jr. missed and committed all three of his shots). four fouls in his terrible 10 minutes) of their best wings to unfortunate injuries in Game 1 or, in Trent’s case, a non-COVID illness. They predictably lost to a Philadelphia 76ers team led (again) by Tyrese Maxey and Embiid himself, who had 31 points and 11 rebounds. Embiid also hit 14 free throws, including 12 in the first quarter, equaling the Raptors’ total for the entire game. Embiid scored 19 of his 31 points in that first frame, and although the Raptors led after the first quarter, the attrition damage caused by Embiid’s post hits added up. Several Raptors ran into trouble early on, and the physical toll of trying to contain Embiid likely led to a soggy second and third quarters in which Philly surpassed Toronto 63-38.
Embiid seems to be one of the most frustrating players to be wary of or intrigued with, as his physicality takes away from anyone who tries to back him up. Nobody can really stop him one-on-one, meaning coaches have to get their defenses into untenable contingent forms to slow him down, which then leads to results like Maxey’s 38-point Game 1. This all seems incredibly frustrating, especially since Scottie Barnes had to miss Game 2 after Embiid stepped on him. The Raptors’ aggressive defense system is rendered ineffective by tight play, and Embiid is big enough that he tends to accidentally land elbows. If my plans resulted in 12 free throws in a quarter, I’d be pissed like raps coach Nick Nurse was. Here he is at the end of the game pointing out a simple truth to Embiid: “You’re being called.” Embiid replies that he’s getting calls for being fouled, a point Nurse only half admits.
After the game, both exchange participants were asked about it. Nurse brought up the elbow thing sarcastically. “At least we didn’t get so many elbows in our faces tonight that we had to endure,” he said. “He said to me, ‘I will continue to take all free throws if you keep fouling. And I said, ‘Well, you might have to.’ But a good player, man. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s certainly playing great here. There is nothing but we try to compete against him and he tries to compete against us.”
Embiid also expressed his respect for Nurse before saying he told him to do it.
The solution here is simple: Lean into Seahawks strategy, foul Embiid on literally every play and hope only half of them get called.