The common refrain echoed across the Philadelphia 76ers’ Media Day last month was the quest for an elite defense, specifically eyeing the league’s top spot. They’d brought in P.J. Tucker, De’Anthony Melton and Danuel House to fortify a shoddy perimeter unit. Any team with Joel Embiid anchoring the action could presumably rank quite highly in that regard. And, maybe, after a pair of runner-up finishes, Embiid would finally snag an MVP trophy for himself, though this was not a publicly stated goal of his.
After one game, a 126-117 defeat to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, both objectives are farther away from reality than they began on Tuesday night.