![]() ![]() And while he's improved in that category during regular seasons, he's been historically bad at taking care of the ball in the playoffs.Įmbiid is one of just eight players in NBA history with 1,000-plus playoff minutes and an average of at least five turnovers per 100 possessions. This isn't to say that he doesn't have a deep reservoir of post moves he could use to get him some closer looks at the basket, but that he simply doesn't use them. ![]() But when those shots aren't falling, as they weren't on Sunday, Embiid isn't quick enough to adjust. When it's rolling, Embiid's face-up and pull-up game seems impossible. His reliance on mid-range shooting is pretty volatile too. In the last three postseasons, that number drops to 13.5. Over the last three regular seasons, Embiid has averaged 17.0 free-throw attempts per 100 possessions. That seems less likely this time around, now that there's an MVP on his resume. He's struggled in big playoff moments in the past, but he's largely been allowed to skate. Now that he's won the game's highest individual honor, takes like the one in the headline are fair. Regular-season Embiid: 27.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.4 turnovers, 3.4 assists per game, 50.1 field-goal percentage, 33.7 three-point percentageĮmbiid had perhaps the best individual season of his career (though it was tied with 2021-22 in terms of box plus/minus), and he spent much of the year publicly campaigning for MVP.Embiid when facing elimination: 22.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.6 turnovers, 2.0 assists per game, 38.8 field-goal percentage, 25.0 three-point percentage.He's now 3-6 in those games, with numbers that look nothing like an MVP's. This was the ninth time Embiid has faced elimination in the playoffs. Sunday's stat line is more about the nature of the game than whatever Embiid is dealing with physically. He's averaged fewer than 60 regular-season appearances per year, and that's not even counting the two campaigns he sat out entirely. And at this point, you almost have to expect something to slow him down by the end of the campaign. The knee injury is necessary context, but this is about more than that. ![]()
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