For all of the incredible, MVP-caliber moments to remember for Joel Embiid's 2020-21 campaign, the second half of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals was something to forget. In a big, big way.
With a chance to take the lead with just seconds remaining on the clock, Embiid got the ball on a feed from Tobias Harris and had a solid opportunity to convert at the rim. He didn't.
That was not the first miss of the second half. It was not the second, nor was it the fifth, nor was it the tenth. It was the 12th miss, on 12 attempts, for the star big man after the 76ers got out to a sizable lead early in the game and proceeded to blow it. And it was the most misses without a make in a half of playoff action in the last 25 years of NBA history, putting him above Michael Jordan. Here are the four players prior to Monday night with at least ten attempts and no makes in a half of playoff action in the past quarter-century (via Stathead).
And it wasn't too, too hard to see why. He hit the deck early in the game, notably heading to the locker room along with Elton Brand before returning to the floor, and kept on going down, grabbing at his knee, grimacing, and generally looking sluggish. Something wasn't right, and the box score was a good representation of that.
No, finishing with 17 points and 21 rebounds doesn't look bad on the surface. But some could say that Embiid's second-half breakdown, putting his total shooting line at 4-20 from the field for the whole game, certainly played a big role in the loss.
Without Embiid, or without a healthy version of the big man but the struggling iteration that we saw tonight, the 76ers go from an Eastern Conference powerhouse to a good, not great, team. All Philly fans can do is hope that by Game 5, he's back and playing like he did in the first three games of the series, averaging 35.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on 53.3 percent shooting.
For now, let's just hope it was a night to forget.
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