Getty Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid and P.J. Tucker of the Philadelphia 76ers
Ahead of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Boston Celtics removed Derrick White from their starting lineup and replaced him with Robert Williams III. The lineup change helped the Celtics tie the series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
To combat the Celtics’ lineup change, Jackson Frank of Liberty Ballers proposed that the Sixers make a lineup change of their own heading into Game 7.
“P.J. Tucker is a good player. He’s been instrumental to the Sixers in certain ways this year.
“They should not start him in Game 7 if Robert Williams III starts again. That disadvantage was the main, albeit not the only, reason Philly fell behind 15-3 tonight,” Frank tweeted.
Should the Sixers go that route, they must decide who they will replace Tucker with. Outside of the starting five, the Sixers have played exclusively De’Anthony Melton and Georges Niang consistently throughout the series, though they have played Danuel House Jr. more over the past few games.
Tucker has been a starter all season long throughout both the regular season and playoffs, as he’s known best for his defense and hustle.
James Harden Harshly Criticizes Referees in Game 6
James Harden did not believe the referees in Game 6 were particularly fair to him when he tried to draw fouls on his defenders.
“Tonight was just frustrating because I’m number one as far as fouls that don’t get called. It’s a fact,” Harden told reporters in the locker room after the game. “So it’s frustrating as a player. So when officiating tells you at halftime ‘We missed a couple of fouls.’ That right there. There was some missed shots and fouls, which would give me a rhythm to transition points for them.”
In 43 minutes, Harden scored 13 points while shooting for-for-16 from the field, though he also had nine assists and seven rebounds. Harden believes that he helped offensively, but praised the Celtics defense.
“I’m not gonna look at my shooting percentage,” Harden said. “I did a lot of really good things offensively. Defensively, they did a really good job of like their game plan was to pack the paint. They started two bigs and they packed the paint. They started two bigs and they packed the paint. So they forced us to make shots.”
Joel Embiid Reveals What Went Wrong in Game 6
During his postgame press conference, Joel Embiid said there were three specific reasons why the Sixers failed to close out the Celtics when they had the chance at home.
“I think it was three things. We had a lot of wide-open shots, we didn’t make them. We stopped moving the ball, and I don’t think I touched the ball the last four minutes of the game. Like I said, we missed a lot of good looks. I didn’t touch the ball at all.”
“I think it was 3 things. We had a lot of wide open shots, we didn’t make them. We stopped moving the ball. I don’t think I touched the ball the last 4 minutes of the game… I didn’t touch the ball at all.”
Joel Embiid on the Sixers late-game offense
The Sixers will get another chance to end the series when they face off against the Celtics in Game 7 on May 14. It may take having to make that lineup change by taking Tucker out, but they also may have to change their crunchtime offense to get over that hump.