Inside Sixers: The aftermath of Joel Embiid’s career night, Matisse Thybulle’s journaling and more

Tyrese Maxey jumping on Joel Embiid’s back — then playfully saying, “Yeah, you [stink],” on live television as Embiid lamented his four missed free throws from a career night against the Utah Jazz — rapidly circulated across the internet late Sunday.

The banter between teammates continued in the 76ers’ locker room, nearly an hour after Embiid had totaled 59 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocks at the Wells Fargo Center in one of the most dominant individual performances in NBA history.

“You’re never going to block seven shots in a game,” Embiid playfully told the generously listed 6-foot-2 Maxey.

Embiid said he was “feeling myself” on his last shot attempt — a turnaround three-pointer that bounced off the rim — instead of “easily” going to his left for a pull-up jumper. That bravado remained while soaking his feet in ice following the game.

He told anyone within earshot that he should have had a 60-point triple-double, a figure he later bumped to a quadruple-double during his formal news conference. He added he should be the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, since the Sixers have been the league’s most efficient unit on that end of the floor in the four games since his return from the flu (and, after a terrible start, entered Monday fifth in the overall season rankings at 109.4 points allowed per 100 possessions). And he dismissed the notion that the debut of the Sixers’ City Edition “Brotherly Love” jersey and court were any sort of good-luck charm.

“It don’t matter,” Embiid said. “Whatever jersey, whatever court, I would have had the same thing.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid’s 59-point game against the Jazz showed his greatness and the Sixers’ familiar shortcomings

It was quite the dramatic shift for Embiid from the previous Sunday, when he lay on his back on the floor of the Sixers’ practice facility following extra three-on-three work with player development coaches to try to improve his conditioning. His masterful performance now will propel the Sixers from their 3-1 week (with victories over the Phoenix Suns and Jazz) into a rare four days off before their next game against the 10-2 Milwaukee Bucks.

Here are some other behind-the-scenes tidbits that defined the week:

The strange layout of the player and staff areas of the Wells Fargo Center means that wing Matisse Thybulle, while moving through his pregame routine, has a habit of opening the door leading to the press conference room while the opposing coach is fielding questions. Thybulle typically covers his face, as if pretending he is invisible, while gliding around the corner and into a hallway.

Sometimes Thybulle shields himself with a book. More recently, it has been with a black Moleskine-style journal.

Thybulle has been journaling for about two years, beginning by writing three pages each morning before the practice “just stuck.” He now brings the black journal everywhere “just in case,” so he can jot down “my random thoughts, ideas, observations.”

“It’s a really great way to process things,” Thybulle said. “Obviously, you can go to your people, but they’re not always a clear channel. Everyone has their own interpretations and experiences. It’s a really good way to work through you, whether that’s something you’re going through, whether it’s something you’re changing, whatever it may be.

“For me, it’s been the greatest tool for, honestly, all things.”

Thybulle said the practice can be most helpful when life is difficult, such as when he played sparingly in the Sixers’ first five games. But before his team’s second contest in Toronto in late October, Thybulle was spotted writing in the journal inside the Sixers’ locker room.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Joel Embiid played almost every minute in his 59-point performance out of necessity

Teammate Furkan Korkmaz had said something meaningful that he wanted to preserve, Thybulle said. Later that night, Thybulle got his first meaningful minutes of the season. He has been in the rotation ever since, started the Sixers’ last two games, and collected five steals and six rebounds in Sunday’s victory over the Jazz.

Thybulle keeps his filled journals stacked on a bedpost in his bedroom, occasionally going back to read and highlight poignant thoughts and memories.

“It’s a nice way to keep things analogged,” Thybulle said. “Things get lost in the digital world.”

It’s customary for teams to recognize former players and coaches — usually with a welcome message inside the visitors’ locker room — when they return with a different organization.

The number of connections between the Suns and Sixers required a photo slide show on loop for Phoenix’s only regular-season visit to the Wells Fargo Center last Monday. A highlight: entertaining, old-school shots of head coach Monty Williams and assistant Mark Bryant as Sixers players.

“That’s Mont?!” a bewildered Deandre Ayton asked as he looked up at the television.

A similar tribute could be done in reverse. Sixers P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and De’Anthony Melton are all former Suns.

To open Thursday’s pregame news conference in Atlanta, Sixers coach Doc Rivers half-jokingly asked if everybody wanted to talk sports or politics.

It was nearly 48 hours after the polls closed on Election Day, when votes determined that a runoff would be required for the Georgia Senate race between incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker.

» READ MORE: Sixers try to sway Philly’s Chinatown leaders to accept a new sports arena

“Are we going to vote? Please? Please? Please, everyone?” Rivers then said as his availability wrapped. “Make sure you put your date on the [ballot]. Make sure you sign it correctly.

“All right, I’m done. I’m going to stop.”

Rivers, of course, is politically active and vocal about social-justice issues and current events. Following Monday’s Sixers win over the Suns, he encouraged everybody to vote. On Tuesday, he and Sixers forward Georges Niang visited polling places around the city. For the first time, no NBA teams played on Election Day.

No. 18 is a fairly uncommon NBA number, with seven players wearing those digits across the league at the start of the 2022-23 season, according to Basketball Noise.

One of them is Sixers reserve guard Shake Milton, who said he picked it because he was drafted in 2018 and could pay homage to Kobe Bryant without wearing No. 8.

“It all kind of fell in line,” Milton said.

As a kid, Milton wore No. 42 as a nod to his late father, Myron, who played college basketball at Texas A&M, and No. 11. He then switched to No. 1 during his college career at SMU.

Player development coaches are often on the court more than two hours before tipoff, working with younger “low-minute” players who are not in the rotation.

But with Jaden Springer, Michael Foster, and Julian Champagnie with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats during the Sixers’ visit to Atlanta, and Paul Reed at least temporarily back in the rotation, those coaches had some time to kill.

» READ MORE: With a long season ahead of him, Sixers veteran P.J. Tucker is aiming for early-season balance

So Spencer Rivers, Tyler Lashbrook, and Jason Love staged their own King of the Court-style game. Love’s shirt had turned from light gray to dark by the end of the 15-minute session. Thybulle emerged from the tunnel to watch from the bench, giving Rivers a disapproving look when he missed a layup and high-fiving Lashbrook for hitting the game-winning shot.

By 5:20 p.m., though, the highly choreographed pregame road routine had begun. Thybulle watched film from his seat. Melton and House stretched along the baseline. And Reed went through his on-court shooting routine.