Raptors coach Nick Nurse details game plan against Embiid, Harden
If the Toronto Raptors plan to win their first round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, they’ll be trying to do a task that most NBA teams haven’t been able to do this year: contain Joel Embiid.
On a campaign that won the scoring title and is garnering MVP discussion, Embiid averaged averaged 30.6 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 68 games this season.
When it comes to the league’s best players, he’s right there by any way you slice it.
Embiid had a 1-2 record against the Raptors this season, but his individual stats: 29.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists were right about in line with his season averages.
“We guarded him great last game, and he had 30 [points],” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said when speaking to reporters before Game 1, referencing a 119-114 Toronto win on April 7. “I mean, we really did a lot of really good things. And he still had 30. So he’s that good.”
Off-nights for Embiid are pretty rare. Even in the 23 losses he suited up for this season, he still averaged 27.2 points per game, which would rank sixth-best in the league.
Embiid, listed at 7’0″, towers over a Raptors roster that lacks a traditional centre and doesn’t have a player listed above 6’9″ on the team.
“There’s gonna be a lot of guys that see time guarding him,” Nurse said. “We don’t really have a guy to look him in the eye, so there’s going to be a lot of different guys trying to work to limit his touches, [and] make everything he does as hard as we possibly can over the course of the game.”
Guarding Embiid driving to the basket is a unique challenge, Nurse added.
“One of the toughest [things to guard on Embiid is] when they give him the ball right there at the top of the key and he just looks you in the eye starts going to work,” Nurse said. “Because that’s a tough place in the middle of the floor for you to do too many things other than guard him one on one.”
But what about the other 76ers superstar in James Harden?
Harden, of course, came over in a blockbuster deal from Brooklyn at the trade deadline in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and a series of draft picks.
The 2017-18 NBA MVP has played just 21 games in a 76ers uniform so far, putting up averages of 21.0 points, 10.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds. But Harden has sunk 37.2 percent of his shorts from the field in his last 10 games, falling into a pre-playoff funk.
For Nurse, there’s a few adjustments that need to be made to shut down Embiid and Harden. Step one: limit the pair’s free throw opportunities.
“They go to the line right at the top of the league,” Nurse said. “We’ve got to try to do our best to get our hands up and hands out.”
Nick Nurse on the #Raptors attempts to keep the fouls down against Joel Embiid and James Harden:
"They go to the line right at the top of the league. We've got to try to do our best to get our hands up and hands out."
Embiid ranked 1st in the NBA in FTA in 21-22, Harden 5th. pic.twitter.com/LiPe57ZzIb
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) April 16, 2022
For Nurse’s counterpart on the other bench, the coaching matchup is one that’s more than an easy “Nurse vs. Doc” Twitter joke.
#Sixers coach Doc Rivers on the chess game of punching/counterpunching in the #NBA playoffs: pic.twitter.com/Pwgvw06UeI
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) April 16, 2022
“I enjoy it,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said when asked about the chess match that comes with a playoff series. “It’s a game of adjustments all the time. [But] I’ve had games where I felt like I adjusted well and we didn’t make a shot. So it still doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, it’s about trying to win the game and trying to make sure you have the right guy in the right place at the right time.”
Tipoff is set for Game 1 at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT on Saturday.