While the popularity of posters has undoubtedly plummeted since the heydays of Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jordan and George “Ice Man” Gervin, posterization very much remains a thing, as was shown again Monday night, when Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson jammed on Joel Embiid late in the second quarter of the Nets-Sixers playoff game in Philadelphia.
A Google search on Wednesday night of the words “Cam Johnson poster Joel Embiid” yielded no fewer than 18 million hits. Further, the dunk by the 6-8 Johnson over the 7-foot Embiid seemed to inform the defensive approach taken by the presumptive league MVP the rest of the way.
Which is to say, he ramped things up several notches.
In the second half Embiid swatted another dunk attempt, by Mikal Bridges, volleyball-spiked a floater by Johnson and backstopped a defensive effort that saw the Sixers limit the Nets to 35.1 percent shooting while outscoring them 52-35 in the last 24 minutes. The final was 96-84, giving the Sixers a 2-0 series lead heading into Game Three, Thursday night in Brooklyn.
Embiid’s postgame summation of those matters was no less vintage than his performance.
It lasted 24 seconds, appropriately, and consisted of 125 words. There was some humor, some trolling and, when all was said and done, an arrival at an essential truth: The playoffs demand that he, above all others, remain a defensive dynamo.
Yes, the Sixers will need him on the other end (duh). Yes, they will have to continue to attack the Nets’ incessant double-teams of him with intelligence and precision. On Monday night that led to a 33-point night by Tyrese Maxey, and a 20-point, 12-rebound contribution by Tobias Harris. And despite everything Embiid collected 20 points, 19 boards, seven assists and three blocks (albeit with eight turnovers).
But defensively the Sixers have some soft spots, particularly in the backcourt, and they will have to cover them up as best they can. On Monday that meant playing a lot of zone, and being sure to tag Bridges and Johnson. In time that reduced the Nets’ offense to a lot of aimless dribbling by Spencer Dinwiddie and a lot of wayward shooting by Royce O’Neale.
Bridges, the Sixer who got away on Draft Day 2018, finished with 21 points, though he shot just 6-for-15. Johnson, who with Bridges came to Brooklyn from Phoenix two months ago in the Kevin Durant trade, managed just six of his 28 points in the second half.
Playing in an arena where fans are constantly implored to MAKE … SOME … NOISE, Johnson made the biggest of his loud first half when in the final minute he worked a give-and-go with Seth Curry, affording him a driving angle against his defender, De’Anthony Melton. Embiid came over to help, but Johnson nonetheless threw it down.
“I don’t remember getting dunked on,” Embiid said afterward, when he began his rehash of the play, and his reaction to it.
He delivered the line deadpan, making it unclear if he was joking or, as Paul Hudrick of the website Libertyballers wrote, exhibiting the type of goldfish-like memory favored by Ted Lasso. Certainly all great rim protectors must flush their failures, and Embiid is every inch an elite defender. While he averaged 1.7 blocks per game during the regular season (seventh in the league), his greater impact is in discouraging lane incursions. Time and again opponents will approach the tin and hit the brakes – Nah, I’m good, dawg – then explore other options.
The on-off numbers show that other teams average 112.1 points per 100 possessions when Embiid is in the game, 116.3 when he is not. (And always worth noting is that the Sixers are 10.1 points better when he is out there than when he is not. His backup, Paul Reed, has done better than other recent understudies, but the Sixers are simply not the same team when Embiid sits.)
Whatever his intent, Embiid quickly jumped to the heart of the matter in his postgame remarks: “I mean, it’s the playoffs. That’s usually where I take my defense to another level.”
And then there was his trolling.
First there appeared to be a subtle reference to Hall of Fame coach George Karl, who earlier this season insisted that Embiid takes plays off.
“We can talk about how it’s hard to play 100 percent of the time in the regular season with that many games, but it’s the playoffs,” Embiid said. “Every possession matters.”
Then he scanned the stat sheet.
“I had, what, three blocks?” he said. “Only three blocks? I probably need the Memphis scorekeeper. … I thought I had more.”
That’s a nod to allegations that Grizzlies scorekeepers padded the block and steal numbers of Jaren Jackson Jr., who this week was named Defensive Player of the Year.
Again, pretty typical stuff from Embiid, as was his arrival at the bottom line. The level at which he played in Monday’s second half is, he said once more, “the level I’ve got to get to, and I’m going to do it every game.”
Again, point taken. The Sixers are hoping for an extended postseason run, and figure to make quick work of Brooklyn. But Boston, which eliminated Philly in 2018 and ‘20, is likely up next. Clearly it’s going to take the best of Embiid to break that hex. Better than the best, more than likely.