Draymond Green Downplays Significance Of Joel Embiid's Game 7 Playoff Showing

Draymond Green downplays significance of Joel Embiid's Game 7 playoff showing originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Joel Embiid had one of his best playoff performances of his NBA career in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 109-100 Game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics on Saturday. The center had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to lead Philly to the second round.

But, Warriors forward Draymond Green doesn’t think the performance was a “legacy game” for Embiid, who has now reached the Eastern Conference semifinals for the sixth time in his career.

“I know a lot of people are saying, ‘Yo, is this a legacy game for Joel Embiid?’ and I say no, ‘hell no,’ ” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show.” “Joel Embiid is a great player, Joel Embiid is an NBA MVP, Joel Embiid is all of those things. Gold medalist, perennial All-Star, one of the best bigs in this league.

“Joel Embiid, also for those same reasons, is the reason that a game in the first round, I don’t care if it’s Game 7 or Game 2. … It’s still a first-round game and we’ve seen Joel Embiid in the first round. In order for Joel Embiid to have legacy games, Joel Embiid has to get to the conference finals and then Joel Embiid needs to help push that team to the NBA Finals.”

Green said he believes the people stating that it was a legacy performance are the same ones who will be ready to blame Embiid if the 76ers fail to reach the conference championship – somewhere Embiid has never been since entering the league in 2014.

“I hate when people try to set guys up like, ‘Aw man, this is a legacy game for Joel Embiid,’ only to set him up to try to tear him down in the weeks to come,” Green said. “I don’t like stuff like that. There’s no way a guy of Joel Embiid’s stature can have a legacy game in Round 1 and he still hasn’t accomplished, ultimately, what he wants to accomplish.”

In eight first-round appearances with Philadelphia, Embiid has averaged 26.4 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists while leading the 76ers to a 6-2 record over those series.

However, Embiid and the 76ers – who hadn’t reached the conference semifinals since 2022-23 — are 0-5 in second round playoff series.

“I don’t think if you spoke to Joel Embiid, he would say ‘aw man, that game I had in Round 1 versus Boston is a legacy game,’” Green said. “No, you feel good about it, you feel great about it, you’re moving on. … but the job’s not done.

“If Philly goes out here and loses the series, no one is coming around this summer like, ‘Yeah, but Joel Embiid had a legacy game in that first-round series,’ Green said. “No one’s talking about that. The talk is going to be ‘Joel Embiid can’t win again, Philly needs to break the team up, Joel’s going to never be healthy.’ ”

The win over Boston was the first time the Embiid-led 76ers had defeated the Celtics in the postseason after falling to them three times prior. Philadelphia kicked off their second-round matchup with the New York Knicks on Monday.

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