Watch Joel Embiid Call Out Payton Pritchard's Diss on Video After 76ers Eliminate Celtics

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid took a little extra satisfaction from knocking the Boston Celtics out of the 2026 NBA playoffs on Saturday night.

During his postgame press conference after a 109-100 victory, the 2022-23 MVP referenced what he thought was a slight from Celtics guard Payton Pritchard.

"It also helps when I saw No. 11 on their team, before I came back, he said they didn't care if I was playing or not, and they hadn't even adjusted or had some sort of game plan around me," Embiid told reporters (27:53 mark of the video below). "So I think it also helps when the other team doesn't worry about you and have some sort of game plan being prepared for you. It helps you have better games, so I thank No. 11 for that."

The Sixers center had 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and one block in 39 minutes of action in Game 7. Especially given the stakes, it was one of his best individual showings in the playoffs.

76ers-Celtics Highlights

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Embiid missed the first three games of the series, and his first appearance was a 32-point blowout loss.

After that contest, Pritchard said the Celtics approached Embiid's return like business as usual. He told reporters that the team "just changed maybe a small adjustment right before the game" in terms of its strategy.

Embiid may have missed the part where Pritchard called him "a tremendous player" who "can be a tough cover."

The sixth-year guard clearly wasn't taking a subtle shot at the decorated big man. Instead, he was basically saying Boston would remain proactive rather than reactive. One player, even one as good as Embiid, wasn't going to dictate Joe Mazzulla's schemes.

Mazzulla would obviously need to make a few tweaks, particularly on defense, in an effort to slow Embiid down, but he wasn't going to make wholesale changes.

Embiid's remarks are a reminder of how players and coaches will find whatever opportunity they can to draw motivation from proverbial bulletin board material.