After a poor Game 3 for the Sixers' starting guards, the team's margin for error is now undeniably small against the Celtics.
No strategic tweaks are likely to matter much without better guard play.
“I think players have to show up,” Embiid said. “I’ve got to do my job. Other guys, everybody knows their role. They have to do their jobs. Players have to show up. Obviously, you can make any adjustments you want. But if the players don’t execute, they don’t show up and we don’t make shots, that’s on us. … I’ve got to be better. We’ve all got to be better.
“We just haven’t been good enough the last two games. No sense of urgency. But it’s the small things. I think we’ve been fine guarding them in the half court. It’s just those loose-ball situations, offensive rebounds, and then they knock down a three or score off of it. It just changes everything.”“You just talk to him and you just keep telling him to keep shooting, be aggressive,” he said. “That’s why you can’t get too high and you can’t get too low.
“So it’s about finding other ways to impact the game. For example, for myself, if I’m not making shots, I know that I’ve got to take another step defensively. I’ve got to become like Bill Russell defensively to have a bigger impact. In that situation, that’s the way I see it. Got to get my teammates more involved.
“And as far as for him, obviously it’s up to him to figure out how to best help us. But like I said, he’s fine. Sometimes you make ‘em, sometimes you miss ‘em. We made a lot of shots in Game 1. The last two games, it hasn’t been going in. I have the trust in him. Just telling him to keep being aggressive and keep shooting.”
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