November 20, 2016
After spraining his left ankle Thursday night in Minnesota, Joel Embiid was the game-timiest of game-time decisions for Saturday night’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns. After the rookie big man went through his pre-game paces, there was still some soreness in the ankle.
But Embiid wasn’t in the mood to let the Sixers know about any of that before the game.
“I told them that it felt great,” he said. “I’m glad I did.”
Outside of maybe the sports science staff, so are they. Embiid scored a career-high 26 points (9-14 FG, 5-6 FT) to go with seven boards, two assists, and two blocks in just a smidge over 20 minutes. And the Sixers cruised to a 120-105 win over what appeared to be a tired Suns team playing on the second night of a back-to-back.
That won’t hurt the ol’ per-36 numbers:
Wait, we’re talking about a blowout win? Believe it or not, yep. This one wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated thanks to the deep subs getting a bit careless with the ball late in the game.
This was fun, the opposite of the beatdown at the hands of the Timberwolves on national television. For the second time this week, the Sixers responded to a blowout loss with a victory. That isn’t a blueprint for sustained success by any means, but for a young team that didn’t sniff three wins by this point the last two years, the resiliency has allowed them to take some baby steps.
“Anytime a group shows that they have the ability to respond, to bounce back, to take stuff at practice and bring it forward, is a good sign,” Brett Brown said.
When the Sixers won their 3rd game in recent years:
— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin) November 20, 2016
2014* — Game 26 (12/21)
2015* — Game 34 (12/30)
2016 — Game 13 (11/19)
*No Joel Embiid
For the worst offense in the NBA coming into the game, this was the type of performance (a red-hot 112.7 offensive rating!) that you frankly just don’t see around here all that much ever. The Sixers were stellar in a couple of categories:
• The ball movement was excellent, as they finished with 33 assists on 45 made baskets.
• Playing against the second-fastest team in the league, they got out and ran, beating Phoenix at its own game. 106 possessions qualify as a track meet, and while the Sixers officially only had 19 fast break points, it felt like they were able to create advantageous situations by consistently running the floor as a team.
• There was an all-out assault from beyond the arc, as they matched a franchise record with 17 three-pointers on 35 attempts.
Outside of the 18 turnovers (again, a few of which came at the end after the outcome wasn’t in doubt), it was about as well as the Sixers can play offensively. And leading the three-point barrage was the 7’2” center, who knocked down three triples just in the first quarter.
“The Process” is back up to 50 percent from three on the season, and while it remains to be seen if he can keep that level of scorching shooting up, there is a reason why he’s making so many of these. Embiid has a specific shot that is always available to him, a pick-and-pop jumper from the top of the key.
Embiid knows that opposing big men don’t want to guard him all the way out there, preferring to hang back on the pick-and-roll. More times than not, he defends the high ball screen the exact same way. Embiid has made defenses pay in the first nine games of his career with that top-of-the-key three, and it’s probably fair to assume he will continue to do so until they change their coverages up.
“As a big man if you can make threes, I think that’s one of the areas where you’re going to get any shots you want,” Embiid said. “And then when they start closing out, you can drive by them and make plays for everybody else.”
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) November 20, 2016
After the game, Embiid admitted that losing the head-to-head battle with Karl-Anthony Towns on Thursday motivated him… while also not really admitting that he lost the head-to-head battle.
“Even though I thought the matchup against Karl was one-sided, he didn't guard me and whatever, and he only had like one or two plays on me, but that made me mad,” Embiid said. “I like competition, I want to fight, I want to win. So tonight I think that helped me a little bit.”
And on a night when Embiid was excellent, you can make the argument that his performance was at least equaled by none other than Nik Stauskas. The Sauce man shot 8-9 from the field and 5-6 from three en route to 21 points, continuing a torrid past week.
Stauskas is making everything he throws up at the basket right now. He literally threw this at the basket. pic.twitter.com/VIIMAw7VNw
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) November 20, 2016
Stauskas is even throwing down one-handed alley-oops now. pic.twitter.com/ij0DZsPTN5
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) November 20, 2016
Since last Friday, the Sixers have been treated to Hot Sauce. Stauskas’ point totals have been 14, 12, 12, 15, 13, and 21.
“For me, I’m just having fun out there,” Stauskas said.
That idea of fun might not seem key, but it is. So many times last season, reporters asked Brown what he could do to get Stauskas going as the then second-year shooting guard was scuffling. A year later, everything has changed. It’s hard to explain, but there is just a good vibe when Stauskas (who I wrote about earlier today) is on the floor.
“He’s playing with confidence,” Brown said. “There’s a cocky bounce that we love, he looks like he’s having fun.”
On Saturday night, all of the Sixers were having fun contributing to a blowout win (even Jahlil Okafor, who made some under-the-radar winning plays that you don't always see from him). And in Philadelphia over the past three-plus years, there hasn’t been a ton of that on the court.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
