What Did PJ Tucker Say To Joel Embiid in Game 4?

PJ Tucker and Joel Embiid reflect on their conversation late in the fourth quarter.

Toward the end of Sunday's playoff match against the Boston Celtics, PJ Tucker came up big for the Philadelphia 76ers, grabbing an offensive rebound off of a missed Tobias Harris jumper and putting it in before successfully converting an and-one, which would tie the game with a little more than a minute to go.

Before Tucker took his free throw, he could be seen giving Joel Embiid an ear full under the basket, only solidifying his reputation as a leader and active voice on the team.

Following the Sixers' win, Embiid spoke to reporters and talked about their conversation, explaining that Tucker took issue with his level of aggression toward the end of the game.

"He just got on me, he said I need to be me... that was when I found myself together, you know, started thinking how to attack them best, like I was doing in the first quarter..." said Embiid. "He just got on me about going back to myself and being aggressive."

To Tucker's point, Embiid did have a slower second half, only managing to put up 11 points on a lackluster 25 percent accuracy from the field, which pales in comparison to his 19-point opening half.

Tucker elaborated further on the pep talk, discussing that Embiid's dominance should make him an impossible task for not only Al Horford but anyone in the league. 

"Nobody can guard Joel one on one, there's no way, I'm sorry, it's no disrespect to Al [Horford] or anybody else," said Tucker. "I've guarded him for a lot of years, when he's aggressive and assertive, it's impossible."

With Embiid not using this dominance, instead getting blocked by Horford on the previous attempt, Tucker had to emphasize the consequences of dropping a game in the playoffs.

"I had seen him for two or three plays in a row, not do that, and we can't have that, not with the season on the line," said Tucker.

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

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