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Tim BontempsESPN
Joel Embiid knew the situation in which his Philadelphia 76ers were on Tuesday night against the visiting Miami Heat.
Playing short for the third consecutive game and on the second night of a rugby game – and that was before Philadelphia’s two available point guards, Ben Simmons and Tyrese Maxey – conceded – would have been easy for the Sixers to put it in pack.
However, Embiid had other ideas.
Thanks to a dominant second half – in which he scored 45 of his season highs 45 points, along with 16 rebounds, four assists and five steals for a final state line – Charles Barkley wore a Sixers uniform in almost half century – Embiid was able to drag the Sixers across the finish line as they claimed a 137-134 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.
“It was necessary,” Embiid said of his performance, which included a stretch of 11 consecutive points for the Sixers, from the match basket with 3.3 seconds to regulate until he hit a midrange jumper with 2:03 left. has. overtime. “We needed it tonight.”
“We lost three games in a row. Our mentality must always be, we must never lose two games in a row, and we lose three in a row,” he explained, “so there was no chance we would lose four in a row. “Whatever I had to do and whatever my teammates had to do, we did it and we won.”
The fact that Philadelphia cut its losing streak and returned to the winning streak largely did Embiid – something that did not seem like it was about to happen at halftime. Embiid had 10 points and seven rebounds at halftime, but he wasn’t exactly involved – although he did more than Simmons, who struggled terribly after missing the previous two games with left knee swelling. Simmons committed five times in the first half and eventually conceded with five points and 12 assists to go with six turnovers within 32 minutes.
But while Simmons struggles, Embiid comes out of the break that a man owns. Embiid scored 20 points in the third quarter alone to swing the game back toward Philadelphia, putting the team on its back thanks to a slight adjustment by Six Rivers coach Doc Rivers to give him the ball in various positions on the floor.
“We put him in the middle of the floor,” Rivers said, “because when we put him under the free-throw line, as far as it’s thrown to him, they’re coming out.
“I think [Miami] really struggled, and found where to grab or from whom to step down; and it also enabled Joel to see when people trapped him where he should throw the ball, so that’s a good fit. ‘
“[But] he wants this game for us tonight, ‘said the coach about Embiid.
This was especially true once Simmons and Maxey got out of the way. Embiid then had the ball in almost every ride in the lane, and Rivers essentially used it as a points center.
Rivers said the Sixers actually offered the same play, called “Delay,” one that Philly only accidentally installed at the shooter round Tuesday morning, out of necessity for most of the fourth quarter and overtime because the point guards disappeared.
“Sometimes life is happiness,” Rivers said laughing. “We laughed on the couch. … It’s amazing. We’re working on it today, and then it’s a savior for us.”
Embiid, meanwhile, was very happy with the chance to have the ball in his hands.
“If I have a point center, a guard or whatever you want to call it, I enjoy it,” he said. “It works well.”
For Embiid, who has never been shy about expressing his feelings, perhaps something of the upswing in the second half comes from a frustrating spot with the NBA as the Sixers continue to play short. It was the third game in a row in which the Sixers had some important components after a bunch of players entered the league’s health and safety protocols after Seth Curry tested positive in Brooklyn last week.
After the NBA postponed the Heat’s game against the Boston Celtics on Sunday – a day after the Sixers had only seven healthy players available against the Denver Nuggets at a loss, Embiid tweeted: “THEY HATE THE PROCESS,” in what could be considered a shot at the NBA because he had not done the same for his team the day before.
Asked if Phil had to play Philly on Tuesday, Embiid did not hesitate to answer.
“No,” he said. ‘It just seems like every other game is still being canceled. But we, the league, just let us keep playing. There’s actually no other explanation behind it, especially not the Denver game when we had to put on an injured player just to be sure. we had enough players to compete – while other teams that did not have as many players yet and that the league did not let any of them get injured, just to make sure there was a game going on.
“So it’s a pity, but it’s the next man. You can not complain about it. Wins still count, losses still count; we must achieve all these victories. We must keep fighting until those guys are back, and that’s our job . ‘
Another point of motivation for Embiid this season has been left out of last year’s All-NBA teams. Embiid expressed that he feels he deserves to be named one of the top three centers in the league, and he was motivated to prove that people were wrong to leave him out this season.
After Tuesday’s game, Embiid has so far averaged 26 points and 12 rebounds per game. And when asked if he’s still getting motivation from last season’s award, he said he was – while adding that it will take care of itself, provided the Sixers continue to win this season.
“It is, but it’s not what I’m focused on,” he said. “The main goal is to win a championship. When it comes to individual awards, it can only happen if you do not win games. The most important thing I worry about is winning.
“Because at the end of the day, if I win, if we win, and we get the first series, there’s no reason why you know I’m not in the MVP, the defensive player of the year talks, the All- NBA first team would not be and all that. ‘
“It’s all going back to the same thing: winning,” he added. ‘But the main goal is to win the championship; we try to get ready for what’s to come, the playoffs and [getting] up to that level. Like I said, it’s all going back to winning. ‘