SI:AM | Joel Embiid and James Harden Disappeared

Plus, what Ja Morant learned from his first suspension. (Nothing, evidently.)

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I was hoping to see Connor McDavid and the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, but Canada’s title drought will continue after Edmonton got bounced by the Golden Knights in Game 6 last night.

In today’s SI:AM:

👻 The Sixers’ invisible MVP duo

🤦 Ja Morant suspended again

👙 The 2023 SI Swimsuit cover models

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The Sixers lost that game more than the Celtics won it

The Celtics cruised past the Sixers in Game 7 yesterday, 112–88, to return to the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row and fifth time in seven seasons. But the story of the game is more about how Philadelphia lost it than how Boston won it.

After struggling for most of Game 6, Jayson Tatum took over in Game 7 and scored 51 points while also collecting 13 rebounds. On the other hand, Philadelphia’s two MVPs laid an egg. Joel Embiid and James Harden scored a combined 24 points on 8-of-29 shooting (27.6%). It was a performance that Rohan Nadkarni called “unbelievably disappointing”:

Both were frequent targets defensively. Tatum more than doubled their scoring output by himself with 51 points. And for good measure, the Harden-Embiid duo’s nine combined turnovers eclipsed their total number of field goals made. Both players seemingly picked up where they left off in Game 6, which was choking away a fourth-quarter lead when Philly had a chance to close the series. It was a disastrous performance when their team needed them most.

After a competitive first half that ended with Boston leading 55–52, the Sixers lost the game with a horrendous third quarter. They scored just 10 points, tied for their fewest points in a playoff quarter since the introduction of the shot clock, as the Celtics opened up a 26-point lead. Embiid missed all four shots he took in the quarter and turned the ball over twice. As a team, the Sixers shot 14.3% from the field during the third quarter, compared to 57.9% for Boston. Tatum scored 17 points in the quarter, hitting four of his five three-point attempts.

The loss raises all sorts of questions about the Sixers’ future, primarily pertaining to the Embiid-Harden partnership. Harden has a $35.6 million player option for next season, so Embiid and emerging star Tyrese Maxey could be looking for a new sidekick—not that that would necessarily be a bad thing, considering how inconsistent Harden has been. The future of coach Doc Rivers should also be a serious consideration. He’s had plenty of regular-season success with the Sixers and Clippers in recent years but hasn’t gotten past the second round of the playoffs since 2012 with the Celtics. Since ’15, Rivers is now 0–9 in potential series-clinching games in the second round, having blown two 3–1 leads with the Clippers and lost two Game 7’s in three years with the Sixers.

For the Celtics, their return to the conference finals is a validation of a roster-building process that has worked out much better than Philadelphia’s. Boston continues to reap the rewards of the big trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in 2013 in exchange for draft picks that turned into Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics have excelled at finding the right pieces to place alongside those two stars, making smart trades (for Al Horford, Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White) and hitting on draft picks late in the first rounds (like Grant Williams and Robert Williams III) to assemble a winning roster bit by bit rather than making risky trades for superstars like the Sixers, Suns and Nets have done.

The Celtics’ win sets up a rematch of last year’s conference finals against the Heat, a series that went seven games before Boston prevailed. This year’s version of Miami is hampered by injuries to Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, but thanks to Erik Spoelstra’s superb coaching and Jimmy Butler’s turning into an all-time great during the playoffs, the Heat haven’t missed a beat. This year’s series has the potential to be equally thrilling.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

• Ja Morant apparently “learned nothing,” Chris Mannix writes, after he was seen flashing what appeared to be a firearm during an Instagram Live video again.
• The Warriors’ dynasty looks to be over, Rohan Nadkarni writes.
• Chris Herring writes about how the Knicks could build a more “playoff-ready offense.”
• Jason Day won his first PGA Tour event since 2018, shooting 9-under 62 in the final round of the 2023 AT&T Bryson Nelson. Gabrielle Herzig writes about the former world No. 1’s victory and the roller coaster years he’s experienced since that last win, when he had to change his swing due in part to a bad back, had bouts of vertigo and lost his mother to lung cancer.
• It’s PGA Championship week, and Bob Harig’s list of contenders starts with an unsurprising name.
• Four the first time in four years, Barcelona won the La Liga title, Andrew Gastelum writes.
• The 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue cover models are …

The top five...

… things I saw yesterday:

5. The last tweet the Sixers sent about Game 7—at halftime.

4. The Celtics’ three-point barrage in the third quarter to bury the Sixers.

3. Jonathan Marchessault’s natural hat trick as the Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers.

2. The ump cam angle of Paul DeJong’s home run.

1. Cardale Jones’s self-deprecating joke about Stetson Bennett.

SIQ

The first soccer-specific stadium built for an MLS franchise opened on this day in 1999 in which city?

• Columbus
• San Jose
• Denver
• Dallas

Friday’s SIQ: Who was the first Black pitcher in AL/NL history to throw a no-hitter?

• Vida Blue
• Earl Wilson
• Don Wilson
• Sam Jones

Answer: Sam Jones. He struck out six and walked seven for the Cubs in their 4–0 win over the Pirates on May 12, 1955.

That was Jones’s first full season in the integrated major leagues. He had previously pitched for the Cleveland Buckeyes in the Negro American League and made a handful of appearances with Cleveland’s AL team before being traded to the Cubs in exchange for Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner.

Jones was known as “Toothpick” because he was constantly chewing on them. Before the historic game, Cubs broadcaster Harry Creighton told Jones he’d buy him a gold toothpick if he threw a no-hitter. When he did, Creighton followed through and spent $11 on one (about $125 today).

Jones had a puzzling 1955 season. He had a ho-hum 4.10 ERA and led the league with 20 losses. He led the NL in strikeouts by a wide margin (with 198, far ahead of Robin Roberts, who was second with 160) but led the league in walks by an even wider margin (with 185, compared to Bob Buhl’s 109) and also hit more batters than any pitcher in the majors.

Jones’s best season came with the Giants in 1959, when he led the NL in wins (21) and ERA (2.83), and finished second in Cy Young voting. But, as a Sports Illustrated article from the following spring recapped, the season ended in disappointment when San Francisco lost seven of its final eight games to lose its grip on the pennant.