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All you need to know about Wednesday night's NBA games.
Sixers 118, Celtics 115
That's not how Jimmy Butler starts, that's how he ends up
Paolo Uggetti: Since he's beaten two winning players in his first two weeks with the Sixers, Butler has slowly moved back into the background. Even during Wednesday's game, we sometimes feel that Butler was not even there. In the first three quarters, he scored seven points. Once the fourth quarter started, Butler released his best impression of Mariano Rivera. In eight minutes and 40 seconds of play, Butler scored 15 points, including three 3. His last two points came with the Sixers only three with about five seconds to go: After knocking over Kyrie Irving, almost lost the ball and s & # 39 to be open, Butler broke through a basic jump. It was the quintessence of the Butler experiment – result on process.
One could argue that it is precisely for this reason that the Sixers exchanged their shares against Butler. And yet, he still has the impression that he should have a bigger impact throughout the game. In the playoffs, these late feats will not always be successful.
Marcus Smart is too important for the Celtics now to be ejected
Uggetti: I believe it's written in the NBA rules that we can not play with Smart and Joel Embiid without a flopped referendum. In the third quarter of Wednesday's game, both players ended up on the flop-off. As Smart made his way through the alley, he was hit by Embiid's shoulder and collapsed to the ground. Smart stood up and used both hands to push Embiid in the back. Embiid then fell himself to the ground, selling him as he was Billy McFarland at a field meeting. Smart was ejected. Charles Oakley weighed in. A lot of things were happening.
The early release of Smart offered the Sixers a significant advantage. After the flops, Boston's double-digit lead evaporated and Embiid started playing as if he had just taken a picture of Red Bull. Smart's line of statistics over his 19 minutes was meager, but, as always, his advantage was more related to the energy advantage he brought on both sides. Without him, Boston's defense was beginning to break down; and when Butler hit the winning goal, it was Irving, not Smart, who was guarding. Smart was also a semi-reliable offensive option this season (36.6% to 3), Irving (1 in 6 fourth) likely to have used late.
Smart helped stabilize Boston's rock season after being integrated into the starting lineup in late November. It is too important now to act as an indispensable piece.
The need for embiid
Uggetti: Wednesday was the first victory of the Sixers against rival Celtics this season. It looked more like a Philly substitute at the Super Bowl this year than a regular season game. Embiid himself said after the party that he had gone into the night with display material. "I've heard that these guys can protect me better than anyone," he told ESPN. "So I had to show that I'm the most unstoppable player in the league."
Embiid took Philly with a ridiculous 37 points and 22 rebounds, which allowed Butler to play and play the hero at the end. Embiid was unstoppable … but at what price? Embiid played 41 minutes, which marks only the second game of the season in which he played 41 minutes or more. The other game was a defeat against Toronto in early February. The value of Embiid for the Sixers is monumental, yet more minutes of Embiid do not always mean a Sixers victory. Get this: In the nine games in which Embiid has played 38 minutes or more this season, the Sixers are 3-6. This is not encouraging considering the kilometers traveled on the odometer of Embiid even before the start of the series. He played an average of 33.8 minutes per game, three minutes more than in 2017-18, but he has already played 84 minutes more than he did last season. The body can only suffer considerable physical damage, even if it is a 7 foot body and 250 pounds. A victory against your division rivals is nice. not getting hurt in the middle of a playoff series against them is much more enjoyable. Protect Embiid!
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