PHILADELPHIA — Rough shooting nights happen in the NBA, but when Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid goes through one, it is a huge surprise due to the efficient standard he has set.
Embiid entered Thursday night’s contest with the Memphis Grizzlies shooting 53.7% from the floor. Against the physical Grizzlies, he shot 2-for-14 in the first half and 7-for-25 for the game, but still scored 27 points with 19 rebounds, six assists and six blocks in a 110-105 win for the Sixers.
Considering Philadelphia trailed by as many as 17 and Embiid struggled, it was a surprising win, but the big fella still had an incredible impact in the comeback.
“It should change the tone about him,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Not in the huddle, but outwardly. Joel is a two-way player. If you take away what someone does best, what else can they do to help the team? We ask our guys that every night. If you took away his offense, what else did he do? Well, he had six blocks, he had 19 rebounds, he had six assists. That tells you how great the guy is.”
The fact that Embiid was able to put his fingerprints on this one despite having a tough night on the offensive end is impressive. His defensive effort saved the Sixers a lot in the win on Thursday. Especially, his block on Grizzlies star Ja Morant that seemed to demoralize Memphis.
“I take pride in that,” said Embiid. “I always say defense is more important for me than offense. Even tonight (Thursday), I could not make any shots, especially the ones that I make, but defensively I thought I had to be Bill Russell to be able to kind of balance it out. As a team, I thought we did a great job so we just gotta keep going.”
EVERY ANGLE of Joel Embiid's emphatic block from tonight 🎬 pic.twitter.com/oxYLHLE84J
— NBA (@NBA) February 24, 2023
Nights like Thursday will happen — even to a guy like Embiid. The great ones will find a way to impact the game and be able to push the team in the right direction as the big fella did against the Grizzlies.
“That’s what it’s about,” said James Harden after he scored 31 points in the win. “We got enough guys that can score the basketball. Bad shooting nights are gonna happen. It’s what you can do to impact the game and tonight (Thursday), Joel was a great example of that.”
Now, the Sixers have to keep things going when they face the Boston Celtics at home on Saturday.
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