Joel Embiid is going to be a contender for Defensive Player of the Year during the 2018-19 NBA season, as the Sixers’ star center is capable of being an absolute nightmare on that end on a nightly basis. During the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers’ season opener against the Boston Celtics, Embiid showed exactly why that’s the case, as me made an outstanding defensive play to challenge a dunk by Jaylen Brown.
The issue for Embiid was that it did not matter, because Brown was able to set the crowd at TD Garden ablaze by finishing his attempted dunk, anyway. The way to best describe it is that Brown’s dunk attempt got erased by Embiid, but he was still able to tap the ball off the backboard and into the hoop through continuing the forward motion of his arm for one of the stranger buckets he’ll end up scoring this season.
OH MY GOD JAYLEN BROWN!! https://t.co/R1Vz944rTy
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) October 17, 2018
At first, it looked like a dunk, but a closer replay showed that it was just the most fortunate of circumstances for the Celtics’ guard. Here is that closer replay, featuring Kevin Harlan saying some silly Kevin Harlan stuff.
Kevin Harlan said it best, the Boston crowd was aroused after this one. https://t.co/Q54NxM80nd
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) October 17, 2018
That wasn’t the only time in the fourth quarter where Embiid’s great defense did not matter. Take, for instance, this effort on Jayson Tatum, which was admirable, but ended in the second-year forward getting a bucket, anyway.
"It ain't right." https://t.co/ilTzcYjyOn
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 17, 2018
The Sixers and Celtics do not like one another, and fortunately, they’re going to play a few more times this regular season. There might even be a playoff series if we’re lucky. But no matter how many times they play, that tip-in by Brown might be the most hard-earned bucket anyone gets during their head-to-head battles this season.
