Leave it to Joel Embiid to lighten the mood with a joke. Following the Philadelphia 76ers 120-106 win – their first victory of the 2022-23 campaign – the Big Fella was asked if any panic had set in after three straight losses.
He took the bait and used the opportunity to poke a little fun at Sixers fans. All in good fun, of course.
“I mean, from the fans’ perspective, yeah, they probably wanted me to be traded and the whole team to be sent down to the G League,” Embiid told reporters. “But, to me, it’s no pressure. It’s three games in, fairly new team, everybody’s trying to find their way. I thought today was a big step offensively and defensively.”
Joel Embiid finished with 2 Assists against the Pacers but that only tells a fraction of the story …
His recognition was sharp and he reacted to Indiana’s doubles and defensive schemes accordingly.
Embiid was responding to a comment from James Harden at the time. He said “it felt like we were 0-82” in an overly dramatic way to express relief of finally getting off the schneid.
“It’s a work in progress,” Harden said. “As much as we want things to happen overnight and for us to be 4-0, we’re 1-3. So we just got to keep continuing to work, continue to build really good habits and live with the results.”
Pacers Address Stopping Embiid, Harden Combo
Embiid and Harden were fantastic on Monday night against the Indiana Pacers. Embiid finished with 26 points and 5 rebounds, with Harden exploding for 29 points and 11 assists while missing a triple-double by 1 rebound. After the game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle addressed the challenge of stopping them.
“They are two great players and as they spend more time playing together,” Carlisle said. “They are getting more comfortable with each other, reading situations better and better, and it’s tough. Harden had a really great individual game to go along with the problems that those two cause as a tandem.”
ONE HAND HARDEN 🔨
Indiana center Isaiah Jackson praised Embiid but dropped a little shade in the process. He blamed the MVP runner-up for goading him into unnecessary fouls. The strategy worked as Jackson picked up five personals in 18 minutes.
“He was just trying to draw fouls,” Jackson said of Embiid. “I feel like that was one of the main things he was doing the whole game. It was putting me in a bad position where I couldn’t move to the basket, but I had to play him. So, kudos to him. He put a lot of pressure on the bigs and stuff tonight.”
Next Up: 4-Game Road Trip
The Sixers get are off to Canada for back-to-back games versus the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday (October 26) and Friday (October 28). From there, the team will head to Chicago (October 29) and Washington (October 31). The early road test might allow them to clear their minds and bond a little bit away from home. Meanwhile, the City of Philadelphia can concentrate on the Phillies’ World Series run.
“Winning on the road,” Georges Niang said when asked what was next. “We know what Toronto does. They’re going to make the game hectic. We started doing a good job on running and moving the ball around and taking what the defense gives us.”
Georges Niang hits a 3⃣ to bring the Sixer lead to 6!
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Niang keyed a solid bench effort against Indiana as they maintained and pushed the lead. Niang finished with 13 points while hitting three 3-pointers in 21 minutes.
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Joel Embiid Addresses Sixers Slow Start, Wild ‘Trade’ Rumor