Remember when the Sixers couldn’t beat the Celtics?

They couldn’t beat them at home, let alone on the road. They couldn’t beat them in the 2018 playoffs and got swept out of the 2020 playoffs on a neutral floor, leading to Brett Brown’s firing.

Fast forward to this year for a season sweep. 3-0. The Sixers swept the Celtics for the first time since 2001, when Allen Iverson was playing and Boston was putting Bryant Stith in the starting lineup. It was a long time ago.

This year, the Sixers won two of these games without Jayson Tatum on the floor, and Boston isn’t the team they were a year ago, but these are still confidence boosters. They sweep a rival team and kick off a four-game road trip on a winning note while improving to 35-16 and remaining tied with Brooklyn for the Eastern Conference lead.

“I just thought we really locked in (defensively),” said head coach Doc Rivers. “They have three dynamic scorers. They really do. And I thought we locked in and guarded each one individually. I thought as good as our team defense was, we had good individual performances by a lot of guys.”

It’s true, the Sixers did not allow one of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, or Tatum kill them offensively. Tatum led that trio with 20 points on 7-17 shooting, mostly against Ben Simmons. Brown only took 10 shots, matched up primarily on Tobias Harris. Walker was 6-14 with Seth Curry chasing him around the floor.

What Boston really lacked was an interior presence, and Joel Embiid just absolutely demolished them with a 35-point effort.

Living at the free throw line

The Sixers shot 39 free throws in this game.

39!

They only hit 29 of them, which is good for about 74%, but Embiid, in his second game back from injury, took 20 foul shots, which is insane.

I’m not sure people realize this, and I might have mentioned it briefly on Twitter or in another one of the 700 Crossing Broad articles I’ve written this year, but Embiid is on pace to absolutely obliterate the FTA per 36 record. Right now he’s averaging 13.1 free throw attempts per 36 minutes, which is easily #1 in the league. In fact, if you go back 30 years, you won’t find anybody with a FTA per 36 number remotely close to 13.1. Not even prime Shaq, Dwight Howard, Giannis, or James Harden were coming close.

“It’s not taken for granted in our team,” said Rivers of Embiid’s insane foul-drawing ability. “It’s one of those things, when I took job, that I thought it was really important that Joel got to the line more, and that Ben got to the line more. And not only Joel making free throws, but it also allows us to set our defense when they get to the line. You get two things out of that, and then you get the other team in foul trouble. There are a lot of things about going to the line and making shots and setting your defense.”

This is what the per-36 statistic looks like this year, for players who have logged at least 500 minutes:

That’s crazy. He’s averaging almost three more free throws per 36 than Giannis.

For some further context, the Sixers have been the 1st or 2nd free throw attempt team this entire season, fluctuating regularly with Washington. But they only shoot about 77%, which is 19th in the league. They do need to bring those two things more in line.

The numbers are a bit wonky though, because they’re pulled down by Ben Simmons and Dwight Howard, who shoot about eight combined free throws per game at about 61% between the two. Embiid, who is taking double-digit free throws per game, is shooting 85%, but he wants that number to be higher.

“I’m actually very disappointed,” Embiid said of his 16-20 free throw shooting night. “That’s two games where I (had a lot of attempts). I don’t know why (the misses), but I just gotta focus I guess. They’re called free throws for a reason. They’re free. I love getting to line, and I don’t spend energy at the free throw line, I actually rest more, so I should just take my time and knock them down. At some point in my career, I want to become a 90% free throw shooter, and just knock them down every single time.”

I’m not sure if this makes any sense, but in previous years it seemed like Embiid was playing specifically for fouls, while this season he’s drawing fouls as part of his natural efforts around the basket. Whereas some of those rip-throughs in the past seemed too deliberate, this year he’s really created this natural blend of foul-drawing and general assertiveness that’s made him a huge pain in the ass to defend.

“As we’ve seen all season, it doesn’t really matter who has been in front of me,” Embiid explained. “I just attack. Every single game I want to be aggressive. I want to get other bigs in trouble and get to the bonus early. Then they stop playing physical, and even if they do that I’m gonna use that to my advantage. Getting to the free throw line is a skill. A lot of people call it flopping, but I’m physical and I’m going to create contact. Guys are going to react and put their hands up there. If I catch them slipping I’m going to get to the free throw line. So it’s not as easy as people think. It’s a skill and not everybody can do it. You have to have a high basketball IQ to be able to pull it off.”

It’s really true. He’s playing a smarter game. He knows when to rip and attack, whereas in years past he may have been swinging his arms when the contact was not there to be initiated.

“It’s a great intensity that he’s carried through the year.” Rivers said of Embiid. “Walking out, he turned to me and said ‘I’m back,’ and I said, ‘yeah I noticed.’ He was not happy after the first game coming back because he expects so much. He missed three weeks and you’re not going to be that good in the first showing. And I thought sitting him Sunday night, allowing him to get more work in and being ready for (Tuesday) night, was big for him.”