Now healthy, Sixers’ Joel Embiid is rediscovering the nuances of the game
Embiid said he is re-learning his feel for rebounding and wants to make an All-Defensive team again.
To 76ers coach Nick Nurse, there has been one strong indication through two games that Joel Embiid may truly be returning to the fully-formed, healthy version of himself.
“The biggest thing I said to the staff I think that I’m most happy with is that there’s some rebounds or loose balls and he’s coming away with a lot of that stuff,” Nurse said after Thursday’s 114-106 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. “It’s down there and you’re wondering who’s going to get it, and all of a sudden Joe’s ripping it out there and going up the side with it, and there we go.”
Embiid might still be trying to find his rhythm offensively (he’s shooting just 39% from the floor, and Charles Barkley referred to him on ESPN as the team’s “fourth option”).
But the early returns on how Embiid has played defensively and in those hustle aspects of the game have been promising. A lot of this Sixers season hinges on Embiid’s health, that in order for this team to reach a championship ceiling, it needs him to make it to June feeling and playing the way he is in October — especially on defense.
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After the win over the Knicks on Tuesday, Embiid said he wanted to be back on the All-Defensive Team this season, a list he has not made since the 2020-21 season.
“Felt good, moving great. Felt like I was all over the place, so I need to do that every game,” Embiid said.
When he spoke after the win over the Cavaliers, Embiid said there was one aspect of the game he is still trying to regain a feel for — rebounding. Through two games, he has averaged nine boards.
“I just forgot the feel of rebounding and positioning,” Embiid said. “So, that’s something that I’m working on — it goes back to everything really basketball related for me. I missed so much time that it’s taken me a while to kind of put myself out there and be like, ‘OK, this is what you’re doing. This is what you’re used to doing. Get comfortable and get back to it.’”
Embiid will get back to it when the Sixers play twice Saturday and Sunday against the Bucks and Pistons, respectively. Well, he’ll get back to it in one of those games. Embiid said he was going to play in one of the games and rest the other as he and the team manage his workload throughout the season. He wasn’t sure as of Thursday night which game he would play.
“I’m playing one of them. I don’t know. They won’t tell me,” Embiid said. “But yeah, I feel good. So, whatever they tell me, I’ll do it. And then if I don’t agree with it, I might fight it, but I might not win. So, I kind of give them the freedom to do whatever they want.”
That game Embiid sits will be another early test for the Sixers. Advanced statistics are always filled with noise until games accumulate and there are larger sample sizes, but through two games, the on/off numbers for the Sixers with and without Embiid have been stark. When he has been on the floor, the Sixers have a net rating of 18.1 — the best net rating of any individual player. When he sits, that plummets to minus-30.4. There’s a 39.7 points per 100 possessions difference in the team’s defensive rating with Embiid on and off the floor.
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That matches what Embiid and his teammates have said about his energy and effort so far on the defensive end. In this new season, Embiid has seemed happy on and off the floor. He called Thursday’s comeback win a top five or top three moment in his career, right alongside his first home game and the night he received his Most Valuable Player award.
“It was different,” Embiid said. “I said last game, after the game, it just feels different. We just got to stay healthy and keep working with each other.”
Beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine break down their most intriguing quotes from LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey during the preseason, along with what they most hope to learn about this revamped roster during the first month of the season. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
