With 30 points from Joel Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 116-96 and won their fourth straight game. More so, Joel Embiid has made his comeback after his months off due to injury. The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player undoubtedly helped his team, the Sixers, defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Sixers were off to a great start against Memphis, taking the lead early in the first quarter and winning the game from start to finish. With the game won, Embiid rested for the majority of the fourth quarter and finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks.
Embiid’s role
The Philadelphia 76ers improved to a 43-35 victory, holding onto eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Before Embiid’s injury, the team was comfortably positioned in the top half of the standings and was guaranteed to have a spot in the playoffs.
However, due to Embiid’s absence, the Sixers eventually dropped in the standings and will now have to fight their way in the play-in tournament once regular season play ends on April 14.
On his mental health
After undergoing knee surgery, Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers admitted that this shortcoming had taken a toll on his mental health.
After undergoing knee surgery eight weeks prior, Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers admitted that this shortcoming had taken a toll on his mental health.
He led the 76ers to a crucial 109-105 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals in his first game after his injury. The team experienced a downturn during his absence. The team is at 27-8 on the season; without Embiid, it is just 14-27.
Embiid said that his injury was a tough one. “Usually, when I have injuries, I just tell myself, move on to the next one, get better, and then fix it, but this one took a toll mentally, being depressed.”
Embiid on recovery
“So still not where I’m supposed to be, especially mentally, but I just love to play and love basketball and I want to play and any chance that I can be out there, I’m going to take it,” he added.
Before his injury, Embiid was leading to reclaim the MVP award and was scoring over 35 points per game. However, because he hasn’t played 65 games this season, he is no longer eligible for the NBA’s end-of-season awards.
Joel Embiid scored 59 points to carry the Philadelphia 76ers to a 105-98 victory over Utah on Sunday, just one of two 50-point performances that lit up the NBA night.
Cleveland guard Darius Garland scored 27 of his 51 points in the fourth quarter, but his heroics weren’t enough to prevent the Cavaliers from surrendering their first defeat on their home floor, 129-124 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Joel Embiid’s impressive game
Embiid’s epic, which improved on his prior career best of 50 points, proved to be all the 76ers needed to hold off the tenacious Jazz.
The Cameroonian big man added 11 rebounds and eight assists along with seven blocked shots, all just a day after he scored 42 points in a victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
“I’ve never seen a more dominating performance, when you combine defense and offense,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said after Embiid became the first player in league history with 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a game since blocks became an official statistic in the 1973-74 season.
With the Jazz pressing late, Embiid scored 26 of Philadelphia’s 27 points in the fourth quarter.
Chants of “M-V-P” were raining down at the Sixers’ Wells Fargo Center as Embiid poured it on.
The teams were tied heading into the final period, and Embiid’s turnaround jump shot with less than six minutes remaining knotted the score at 94-94.
He hit two free throws on Philadelphia’s next possession for a 98-96 Sixers lead. His fadeaway jump shot with a minute remaining put Philadelphia up 103-98 and he closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws.
In Cleveland, Garland barely beat Embiid to the first 50-point performance of the season as he became the fourth Cavaliers player to hit the half-century mark along with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Walt Wesley.
Garland’s 10 three-pointers — six in the fourth quarter — were just the start as Garland dazzled with an array of agile jump shots and bullish drives to the basket.
“Special,” Cavs veteran Kevin Love said of Garland’s performance. “A masterclass by Darius that was just beautiful.”
Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was cheering from the bench as he sat out with a sore ankle, but Garland’s career night wasn’t quite enough.
D’Angelo Russell scored a season-high 30 points on 11-of-13 shooting and handed out 12 assists, while Karl-Anthony Towns scored 29 points for the Timberwolves, who led by 24 late in the third quarter.
Thunder silence Knicks
Elsewhere, the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled into New York and thumped the Knicks 145-135 to the vocal dismay of the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points and Josh Giddey had a triple-double of 24 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the young Thunder squad.
Australia’s Giddey, 20, joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to post triple-doubles in their first two games at the iconic Manhattan arena.
“We come here once a year, so you’ve got to have fun while we’re here and luckily in my time we’ve had two wins, so it’s been going good so far,” Giddey said in a post-game interview.
Lu Dort also scored 24 points for Oklahoma City, who connected on 62.5% of their shots from the field. That included making 17 of 31 from three-point range.
The Knicks out-scored the Thunder 48-36 in the first quarter, setting a franchise record for points in the first period.
But Oklahoma City buckled down defensively in the second, holding the Knicks to 25 and scoring 43 to lead by six at the break.
They never trailed and led by as many as 19 in the second half.
In Washington, Kristaps Porzingis scored 25 points and Deni Avdija chipped in 21 to lead the Wizards to a 102-92 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Washington notched a fourth straight victory despite the continued absence of Bradley Beal. The Grizzlies were short-handed as well, with Ja Morant sidelined by a sore left ankle and Desmond Bane out with a troublesome toe.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been on a roll ever since Harden took off and ran to the team he so desperately wanted to join during the off-season, the LA Clippers. And in the wake of his absence, Tyrese Maxey took on his role and was next up in line after Ben Simmons and James Harden failed to be Joel Embiid’s co-star players on court.
So was the blockbuster trade a good call? For the Sixers, the answer is definitely yes. Maxey took to the court and showed just how great he can be, and the most important part is that he can thrive without sacrificing or hurting the performances of his teammates; in fact, he elevates them.
And if his latest performance doesn’t tell people how good of a player he is, then what will? On Monday, Maxey, in the words of the Gen-Z kids, “ate” as he recorded a jaw-dropping, career-high of 50 points in the Sixers’ game against the Indiana Pacers. He also posted seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks throughout the match.
His feat is perhaps the most celebrated one so far this week. And he deserves it; he deserves all the recognition he’s getting. Joel Embiid even went so far as to call Maxey “the franchise.”
But, Maxey, being the humble person that he is, said that his brilliant performance had nothing to do with him and that it was all thanks to Kelly Oubre Jr.
“Man, this had nothing to do with me. This is all Kelly Oubre, man. We praying for him man, love my dawg. I just met him, but I love him. I hope he gets well soon.”
Oubre was involved in a vehicular accident recently and is, fortunately, now in a stable condition.
Maxey’s 50 points and Joel Embiid’s 37 points led the team to win against the Indiana Pacers 137-126, bringing their record to 8-1. The team currently sits at No. 1 in the Eastern Conference rankings, edging past the Celtics, with a record of 7-2, and the Pacers, with a record of 6-4.
The NBA is renowned for its competitive matches, off-court banter, and clutch moments, as well as their players’ signature shoes and celebrity lifestyle. However, one of the most captivating aspects of the sport is its iconic post-score celebrations/gestures, such as Curry’s Night Night and LeBron James’ Silencer.
But perhaps 76ers guard center-forward Joel Embiid took it a tad too much when he executed a DX/Triple H “suck it” celebration on court, a gesture that’s been described as ‘obscene’ by the league.
The event came about with 2:14 left in the third quarter of the Philadelphia 76ers’ game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Embiid had just completed a two-point shot and, in a state of euphoria, was seen executing the chop movements around the crotch four times, a move known in WWE.
While the wrestling world had a good laugh at Embiid’s antics, the NBA didn’t. The following day, the league issued a statement stating that the Cameroonian MVP had been hit with a $35,000 fine for his vulgar celebration on TV.
Joel Embiid got fined for the DX chop.
DX still getting people in trouble after all of the years.
Oct 31, 2023—Philadelphia’s 76ers center Joel Embiid has been fined $35,000 for repeatedly making an obscene gesture on the playing court, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred with 2:14 remaining in the third quarter of the 76ers’ 126-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 29 at Wells Fargo Center.
After suffering the consequences of his actions, Triple H reached out to Embiid via X, saying, “Hey @JoelEmbiid – I know a place where you can do that all day, and everyone will love it. @WrestleMania 40 is right there in Philly…”
In response, Embiid said, “Yes sir!! I would love to but I don’t think I’m gonna be in Philly for that… #NFL”
Outside of the incident and the hefty fine, Embiid performed superbly once again, scoring 35 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, six blocked shots, and two steals in the game, as per Barrons.
“That’s my job, try to get better every single day,” the 29-year-old said. “It starts on defense, having that mentality to play it, lock down everything and block everything and offensively just trying to make the right plays.
Embiid further stated that despite their win, the team still has a long way to go.
Philadelphia 76ers center-forward Joel Embiid has expressed his opinion on James Harden’s apparent absence from the team’s practice for the second consecutive day, stating ‘maybe he had something to do.’
Harden’s second no-show
James Harden was notably absent from the 76ers’ practice last Wednesday, and once more, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that he didn’t attend practice due to a personal matter.
The Brooklyn Nets are waiving forward Darius Bazley, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium. Bazley averaged 5.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 42.9 percent 3-point shooting in preseason and is now expected to receive interest as a free agent.
Ever since his trade request to the Clippers fell through during the off-season, Harden has embarked on a self-deprecating spree. This prompted many fans to ask if this was his strategy in liberating himself from the 76ers’ grasp.
On media day, Embiid also weighed in on Harden’s situation, saying that he doesn’t see Harden’s trade request in the same light as Ben Simmons’ trade request two years ago.
“I think it’s a little different,” he said. “I think the last time this happened, there was a lot of stuff in the media, whether it was blaming me or others on the team. So I think at that time, I was a little defensive. But this time around, it just seems like maybe it was a misunderstanding between both sides,” Embiid said per NBC Sports.
Coach Nick Nurse: A little bit surprised by Harden’s behavior
Coach Nick Nurse admitted that he was ‘a little bit’ taken aback by Harden’s absence when questioned by the media about it.
“Yeah, I mean listen I think I stay with ‘If [James Harden] is here, we go. If he’s not, we go’. We’ve got work to do,” Nurse said. “From the last discussions I’ve had with him, it was a little bit [of a surprise] that he didn’t show.”
When asked about whether he’s expecting Harden to show up at the Friday game against Atlanta, Nurse responded, “Yeah, I’m still going on what he said the last time I talked to him. We’ll see how it goes.”
"If [James Harden] is here, we go. If he's not, we go… From the last discussions I've had with him, it was a little bit [of a surprise] that he didn't show."
Nick Nurse on Harden being a no show at Sixers practice this morning 🗣
