The Philadelphia 76ers held a 102-98 lead with 10.7 seconds left at home. The Chicago Bulls had been charging back in the fourth quarter all night long and led by DeMar DeRozan, they were looking to keep the pressure on the Sixers.
DeRozan drove hard to the basket and he rose up for one of his signature dunks, but Joel Embiid then came over and he swatted DeRozan at the rim in one of the more impressive blocks one will ever see. The play was initially called a foul, but coach Doc Rivers challenged it and it was overturned.
The Sixers went on to beat the Bulls 103-98 to complete a perfect 4-0 homestand in a gutsy win late over a red hot Bulls team.
“This was a defensive win,” Rivers breathed after the game. “It really was. I thought defensively throughout the game, we were phenomenal. Got our hands on a lot of balls. Joel’s block at the end of the game, we finally won a challenge which was nice, and then I thought the last three plays, the execution was really good overall.”
Joel Embiid knew his block on DeMar DeRozan wasn't a foul, and he made sure to let him know it 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/LF0au8edZc
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) November 4, 2021
Georges Niang, who was the defender on DeRozan initially, was thankful Embiid saved him after having a tough time staying in front of the explosive scorer.
“I don’t know if you saw, DeMar drove right past me so I had a good vantage point, but thank you for bringing that up,” Niang laughed. “I didn’t wanna give up a 3 so I tried to send him to the rim, I could’ve been a little closer, but Joel’s a competitor and I think it’s huge when your best player really wants to win that bad and is willing to go up there and sacrifice a knee to the groin or elbow to the face and make a winning play. That doesn’t happen everywhere so Joel’s special for getting out there and making a winning play.”
Embiid has had a tough time shooting the ball to begin the season and Wednesday was no different as he shot just 6-for-18 in this one, but the block is what matters as it helped preserve a big win at home. Even though, he was surprised that it was called a foul initially.
“I was pretty surprised,” said Embiid. “One thing this year, obviously the shot’s are not falling to start the year, I’ve been focusing a lot on the defensive end and I feel like with the offensive end nowhere close where it should be, the defensive end is where I should put a lot of time in and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
If that block was called a foul, DeRozan would have gone to the line for an opportunity to bring the Bulls to within two with time left on the clock. It was an impressive play by one of the game’s premier players.
“I’m glad that block was not a foul,” the big fella finished. “A big play to close out.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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