Embiid still looking for first assist

Joel Embiid said his performance in Thursday's exhibition game against Washington wasn't a total success.

The 76ers center finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds, one steal, and one blocked shot in 13 minutes, 55 seconds of a 100-79 loss to the Wizards at the Verizon Center.

But his main goal for the night was to record his first assist of the preseason. He failed.

"I felt in my previous games I played a little bit too selfish, and I can see my teammates' reactions," Embiid said. "They are not going to mention it, but I could see it. I just felt like I needed to be unselfish today and try to play as a team."

While he has been impressive in some areas, there was little ball movement when Embiid got it in the first four games. He knew he needed to do a better job of finding his teammates so the Sixers could have balanced offensive success.

Embiid tried Thursday and should have had at least four assists. The problem was that his teammates missed a lot of wide-open shots.

It's understandable that Embiid was eager to create his own shots in the first couple of preseason games. The third overall pick from 2014 was unable to play the previous two seasons because of foot surgeries.

Embiid did play solid defense Thursday. His highlight came when he ended up covering the smaller, quicker John Wall at the top of the key on a switch late in the second quarter.

The 7-foot-2, 276-pounder held his own against the NBA all-star point guard. Wall ended the play by misfiring on an off-balance shot. Embiid tracked down the ball at the rim and eventually grabbed a defensive rebound over Otto Porter, who fouled him.

While walking to the Sixers' foul line, he trash-talked Wall about not being able to score on him.

"As a big man, I think I can move, and I can stay with anybody in the league." Embiid said. "So that's what I did. That's my job. Play defense. . . . I did my best on him, and he missed the shot."

That play will be something that the good friends will likely joke about in the future.

"That's my guy," Embiid said of Wall. "Since I got to the league, he helps me. Every time we are in the same city, he takes care of me."

Embiid is averaging 9.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in just 13.1 minutes of action.

"He is better than I thought he was," Sixers coach Brett Brown said.

The Sixers will raise Embiid's minutes from 15 to 18 on Saturday against Detroit. The goal is to have him playing 20 to 24 minutes in the opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 26.

Jahlil Okafor, who is undergoing knee surgery rehabilitation, participated in drills Friday and was on the court for live scrimmaging. He also worked out in the weight room.

"I just thought OK," Brown said of Okafor's practice session. "He had a good weight room workout. He's doing everything we're asking of him. But I thought that it was, I'd say, a C-plus, B-minus."

Gerald Henderson (hip injury) went through an individualized program. Jerryd Bayless (sore left wrist) did some light shooting with his right hand, and Nerlens Noel (left groin) did some individualized drills following the practice.