PHILADELPHIA–When one looks down at the box score, they will see that Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid had 22 points and nine rebounds and he shot 7-for-14 from the floor while also having five assists. However, it wasn’t the usual Embiid dominant game out there.
The Sixers were able to knock off the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday 125-119, but they were able to get big games from Tyrese Maxey and James Harden to get the job done. The length of the Cavs seemed to bother Embiid from the jump and that is something he will have to contend with.
There were times when it looked like the Sixers had issues getting him the ball in spaces where he wanted it and he expressed a lot of frustration. Cleveland is a tall team with a lot of length and Embiid did not have his usual rhythm.
“Not frustrated, you just gotta play a little harder,” said Harden. “Especially, you gotta really rely on your defense because when you get stops, their zone can’t set up. I think we were taking the ball out of the basket too much in that first quarter.”
The Cavs also played off Matisse Thybulle a lot. They focused their defense more towards Embiid and he had to face more length than usual and that was an issue for him early on.
“They were using a roamer a lot,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Especially early on with Matisse. Just wherever Joel came, they used that guy. Similar to what Milwaukee did in Milwaukee, it’s like I said, you gotta figure it out, take some time. We did it in Milwaukee, we figured it out, we did it again tonight.”
On the flip side, this is something Embiid will have to deal with the rest of the way. Until Thybulle finds a consistent 3-point shot, teams will continue to help off of him and send more help toward Embiid. The big fella and the Sixers will just have to continue making adjustments.
“I told Joel ‘You can’t get frustrated with it. They’re gonna make it hard on you.’” Rivers added. “At least they should and that’s fine.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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