Getty Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers
After the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies on February 23, Joel Embiid gave his honest thoughts to reporters on how he feels about the Sixers’ top competitors in the Eastern Conference -the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.
“We’re not worried about Boston or Milwaukee,” Embiid said, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We are worried about ourselves. We can get better every single night. We can take this experience that we had [Thursday] and try to be better.”
Embiid explained further that while he wouldn’t like to have come back from a large deficit like he and the Sixers were against the Grizzlies, he has no concerns about the Sixers’ top competition.
“As I would like to not be down 17 points every single time, it’s also good to see that we got the quality and we got the right guys to be able to come back from these types of leads,” Embiid said. “You learn something from [Thursday], and you move on.
“But as far as worrying other teams, we don’t. We just focus on ourselves.”
This season, the Sixers are 0-2 against the Celtics and 1-1 against the Bucks.
Embiid and Tyrese Maxey Give Thoughts on Playoff Success
While the Sixers have made the playoffs every year, they haven’t made much progress since 2018, having gone to the second round. Embiid explained to Pompey why the Sixers have to take it even further in the postseason.
“It’s good, but it’s all about continuing it,” he said. “You still have to be able to have that continuity and be able to take it further into the second half of the season and in the playoffs.
“It’s good, but it’s the regular season. That’s not what matters.”
Maxey added to Embiid’s comments by telling Pompey that contenders have to reach another level to win, which he believes the Sixers can do.
“Certain teams flip the switch,” Maxey said. “Playoffs or championship teams flip that switch, and we have to be able to flip that switch post-All-Star break.
“I think we have the mentality, the guys, the talent, and camaraderie to do it.”
While believing in themselves is good, the Sixers will have to demonstrate that they’ve learned from their previous playoff failures by advancing past the second round in this upcoming postseason.
Embiid Gives Health Update
Embiid has been dealing with a foot injury all season, which he admitted to reporters on February 15. However, after the Sixers beat the Grizzlies, Embiid gave an encouraging update on his health to reporters.
“I feel pretty good,” Embiid told reporters, per Ky Carlin of SixersWire. “Like I said before the break, whatever it is, it’s all about rest, and there’s a reason why I wasn’t part of Saturday (All-Star practice) because I wanted to make sure that I could get more rest and with this, it’s all about trying to get as much rest as possible.”
Embiid admitted that he would have liked to have more rest, but now he has to be smart about managing his injury.
“It would have been nice to have actually two weeks off, but it’s the season,” Embiid said. “You can’t have that, so you got to come back and keep going. So now it’s all about managing it, and next time it comes along, take some time off and keep doing the same thing.”