BOSTON _ Joel Embiid is far from being offended.
The 76ers center knows the Boston Celtics are more concerned with limiting his team's 3-point specialists than double-teaming him in the post. The Celtics would be content with him scoring 30-plus points as long as they win the game.
That is what happened in the Celtics' 117-101 Game 1 victory Monday night at TD Garden. That's what Boston hopes will happen when the teams meet for Game 2 on Thursday night.
"I don't think that's disrespectful," Embiid said, "because at the end of the day, when you look at the last game, I felt like I was in a zone where it kind of helped me. Since I came back, I didn't find that rhythm offensively that I had months before that.
"That game, I felt like it brought me back to the L.A. game. That dominant performance."
On Monday, Embiid had 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting to go with 13 rebounds, five assists, one steals and three turnovers in his fourth game back after missing 10 straight with a fractured orbital bone near his left eye. Eighteen of his points came on 7-for-10 shooting after intermission.
The Los Angeles game he referenced was his 46-point, 15-rebound, seven-assist and seven-block performance in the Sixers' 115-109 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 15 at the Staples Center.
Embiid became the first player in NBA history with at least 46 points, 15 rebounds, seven blocks and seven assists in a game. He also was the first Sixer to score at least 40 since Allen Iverson had 45 on Nov. 27, 2006.
"So that brought me back to that," Embiid said of Monday's game.
He also pointed out that the Sixers made only 5 of 26 3-pointers in a 16-point Game 1 setback.
"If we made five more threes, that would have been one-point," Embiid said. "If we would have played better defense than we did, because we were absolutely ridiculous defensively, we win the game."
That's why he's not concerned with the Celtics willingness to surrender 40 points to him while focusing on the shooters. Nor is he convinced that the Celtics will use that actual game plane. That's because he thinks his scoring 40, combined with more made 3-pointers and better team defense is a winning combination for the Sixers.
