I'm not sure I totally get the Mazzulla criticism. The offense is creating open looks, the players just aren't hitting them (neither are they hitting free throws - the stars especially).
The sad fact is that the Sixers stars have simply showed up for one more game than Brown and Tatum. We all thought Harden was going to wither but he's been really, really good in their wins. Embiid was unstoppable last night. And both of those guys are nearly automatic from the line, which is backbreaking in comparison to Brown shrinking when he gets fouled in clutch situations (3/10 in the last two games...). I'm not sure how much Mazzulla can affect change there.
The shrapnel Jaylen takes around here is hysterical.
The 0-2 the other night from the line was completely eliminated when he got his own rebound after the 2nd miss, and immediately put it back up and made the basket.
The "clutch" free throws last night? We have a different interpretation of clutch. Jaylen didn't a miss a free throw last night in a single instance in which the C's weren't already down 14 points.
Is Jaylen a good free throw shooter? Nope. But shit, I don't remember anyone giving him any credit when he went 15-15 from the line in the first 3 games, and the C's jumped out to a 2-1 series lead.
Al Horford went 0/7 last night, all on basically wide open looks from 3, but it's Jaylen shrinking.
Tatum has been 4-20 from the field in the first halves in the last two games, two games in which the C's were down by 9 at halftime, but it's Jaylen that's shrinking.
I'm being told we're saving Tatum from expending energy on defense because we need him to carry the load on offense, while Brown is being asked to dog Harden all over the court, and people are losing their minds because he missed some free throws in a game that was basically a blowout? Brogdon is out there looking like a turnstile and he couldn't hit a damn layup last night. Derrick White has disappeared.
But nope, let's make sure to swipe at Jaylen whenever possible, the guy who through 11 playoff games, is shooting .553 from the field, and .475 from deep, he's averaging 25.3 points a game on 18 shots. He's averaging 4.0 assists to 2.6 turnovers in this series, which is pretty darn good for him too. That 1.4 points per game he's leaving at the free throw line is not costing us games, which by the way, is only .6 more points per game than Tatum is leaving at the line, because of the volume of free throws Tatum gets.
I know I'm biased, because I love Jaylen and think he's criminally underused on offense, but every 5th post in these threads has some sort of swipe at Jaylen, who IMO, has probably been the best player on the floor for the C's in the playoffs in the majority of the games.