1. The offense must step up through Embiid
On the surface, Embiid’s numbers were fine. He scored 26 points on 15 shot attempts, made nine of his 12 free throws, and swallowed 16 rebounds. When you did deeper, however, it’s the number of shot attempts — just 15 — that is most egregious.
This is partially on Embiid, partially on his teammates, and partially on Brett Brown. But under no circumstances should Embiid not lead the Sixers in shot attempts per game. Richardson led Philadelphia with 17, while two other Sixers — Harris and Burks — also registered 15 attempts.
The Sixers went away from Embiid entirely down the stretch, which is when the offense stalled and Boston pulled away. Philadelphia should make every effort to work through and around Embiid in the post — no one collapses a defense quite like Embiid.
On the other hand, Embiid has to be more aggressive. And he has to be smart with his aggression. Embiid recorded five of the Sixers’ 18 turnovers. After an impressive display of patience and passing when faced with double teams in the seeding games, Embiid was back to a more reckless, careless disposition in Game 1. He cannot spin directly into a wide-armed Marcus Smart and expect good things to happen.
In order for Embiid to effectively carry the Sixers, he needs to know when to attack his matchup, and when to locate the open shooter. But, in general, he needs to take more than 15 shot attempts, and the Sixers cannot ignore him down the stretch — even if Boston is tuned in to Embiid’s tendencies.
Of course, one cannot ignore fatigue. Part of the reason Embiid didn’t touch the ball late — and partially to blame even for his turnovers — is the fact that Embiid was visibly tired for stretches on Monday night. He played 37 minutes, and will need to get used to a similarly heavy workload in future contests if Philadelphia is to win this series.