Sixers Playoff Bell Ringer: Celtics sweep Sixers for first time in rivalry history

If you need a Bell Ringer refresher, check out the first such post of the season. Here are the full season standings, which include the Bubble games:

Playoff Bell Ringer Standings

Joel Embiid - 3 (Boston - Game 1, Game 2, Game 3)

Prone, lying motionless on the floor, a trail of blood streaking behind. While this could be a metaphor for this Sixers season, it became a scary literal reality in the third quarter when Tobias Harris took a nasty fall going for a defensive rebound and hit the hardwood head-first. The frightening sequence sucked the emotional energy out of the team, coming towards the beginning of what would become a 12-0 Boston run to close the third quarter. What had been anybody’s game at 77-77 was suddenly out of reach, eventually finishing at 110-106 as the curtain closed on this Philadelphia 76ers era.

Now we await the news of the inevitable Brett Brown firing. And wonder if Elton Brand and/or the rest of the front office will follow him out the door. Until then, let’s select our last true “Bell Ringer.” I doubt the next Sixers head coach will be bringing a small replica Liberty Bell into the post-game locker room.

Joel Embiid: 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers

Today was an uneven Joel Embiid performance. There were times in which he looked lifeless defensively, and trips where he was all over the floor, hanging with much smaller guards on the perimeter before rotating back down and continuing to deter at the rim and battle hard for defensive rebounds. Joel was uncharacteristically shaky at the foul line, finishing 13-of-18, but simply getting to the line for 18 attempts is an incredible feat. Throughout the game, Embiid’s dropstep lay-ins and face-up jumpers were enough to keep his team hanging around. Saying it was an uneven performance when he puts up 30 and 10 with five stocks speaks to just how dominant the man is out on the court. Get him some teammates that fit better around him to make his life easier.

Tobias Harris: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover

Photo by Kim Klement-Pool/Getty Images

Harris was far from perfect in Game 4. He had an egregiously bad missed defensive rotation early in the game that caused Embiid to throw up his hands in a “What are you doing?” gesture. Later, the sequence where Tobias had the ball stolen by Jayson Tatum, fouled Tatum, and then received a technical yelling at the ref was just plain sad. But it was great to see him finally shake off his shooting woes. Harris made his first 3-pointers of the series, finishing 2-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-12 overall from the field. He was able to get to the basket on a number of occasions, and with some better finishing around the basket could have had an even bigger day. Finally, you could see how much Tobi means to this team from his teammates’ reactions when he came back out of the locker room ready to retake the court. Fingers crossed no concussion symptoms pop up later.

Shake Milton: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers

One of the few positive takeaways from this Sixers season is the confirmation that Shake Milton is a real NBA player. Though he still has a long way to go to even be a neutral party defensively, his fearlessness on the offensive end will give him a role for a long time in this league. Shake wasn’t afraid to pull up into a 3, or recognize a smaller defender like Kemba Walker was on him and back him down for a turnaround jumper. His ability to space the floor, while also providing a developing on-ball creation game, makes him an easy fit in an number of lineups.