This may be the best play of Joel Embiid’s entire NBA career:

Embiid:

“I try to do the best job possible to interfere with what they want to do. Whenever I can block shots, especially in the fourth quarter like that, you never know, he (Jaylen Brown) makes that layup and they get some momentum and start believing. But a play like that, it kind of drains the energy from the crowd, from themselves, and I thought it was okay.”

Brett Brown used to call these “spirit plays,” with the idea that they provide something in the momentum or confidence department that can’t be packaged into a statistic. In this case, it’s kind of like a spirit crusher, which also happens to be the name of a fantastic death metal song from back in the day. 

A few things to consider with this play –


One, Embiid had just committed a turnover on the offensive end of the floor, so for him to haul ass down the court and rectify the mistake presents us with a snapshot of that team-wide Sixers effort in game five. They showed great attitude throughout the night, even after making errors. No moping or griping or bad body language. Just focus and determination.

The other thing is that the stakes haven’t been much higher. Embiid has never been past this round of the playoffs, so to pull off a sequence like that on the road, against a bogeyman Celtics team, in a situation that could put his team up 3-2 in the series? That’s huge for him. It’s massive and monolithic. Pull out the Thesaurus and choose your word.