Newly-named NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid has his sights set on winning a championship with the Philadelphia 76ers after finally earning the award.
After missing Game 4 of their first round series sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, plus their Game 1 win over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Embiid returned for Game 2 on Wednesday night as the Sixers were blown out 121-87 at TD Garden.
The 29-year-old finished second in voting the last two years but beat back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic to this season's award. Postseason success is next on the agenda, and the big man's return to the floor boosts the Sixers ' chances of making a run to the Finals this season.
"I don't want to win this award because it's just the MVP," Embiid told ESPN. "I want to win it because it means a lot to me.
"I went through a lot, and that's just a validation of everything, the sacrifices and everything you went through just paying off in some ways. Obviously, winning a championship is going to be way better, and we have that opportunity. But I'm just competitive. I want it all.
"I want to win everything that I can get my hands on, and everybody around me knows that. It doesn't matter if it's about basketball or if you're playing a game in life or whatever. I want to win everything. I want to be first."
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The returning Sixers center only scored 15 points and pulled down just three rebounds in 27 minutes. But Embiid was impactful as a rim protector, blocking five shots before coach Doc Rivers pulled the player out of the game with 2:19 left in the third quarter.
With their Game 2 win, the second-seed Celtics have regained their home-court advantage. The series is now tied at 1-1 as it heads down the East Coast to Wells Fargo Center for Games 3 and 4.
Embiid and the Sixers have exited the playoffs at the Conference semifinals stage in four of the last five postseasons. The only time they did not, they were swept 4-0 by the Celtics in the first round.
The year before that, Ben Simmons' Rookie of the Year winning season, they also met Boston in the Conference semifinals, losing 4-1 in a gentleman's sweep. With the Simmons and Embiid duo no more, 2018 MVP James Harden is the team's second superstar.
With Embiid out in Game 1, the Houston Rockets version of James Harden returned as the guard scored 45 points, including hitting a game-winning three-pointer over Al Horford. He followed that up with 12 points on 2-for-14 shooting and missed all six three-point attempts in Game 2.
While no doubt a devastating duo in the regular season, questions remain about how the pairing projects in the postseason. That partnership, more than anything, will decide their championship chances.
