Joel Embiid is the best player in the NBA, by far. There is nothing this guy cannot do. Go block a shot? Done. Go get you a bucket? Done. Grab you a rebound? Done. His performance tonight was nothing less than fantastic. As the Sixers struggle passing the ball with 18 turnovers, they come out with the win, and have the season series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Read down below for a quarter by quarter breakdown and some key takeaways from tonight's game.
First Quarter
• Embiid started off this game being aggressive and it paid off. He took 4 free throws for the first two possessions. If Cleveland is crying about foul calls...Maybe don't foul Embiid? You could hear the slaps from miles away.
• The Sixers took 7 free throws in the first 3 minutes of the opening quarter. The fans aren't liking this game so far tonight.
• Doc Rivers using Joel Embiid as a roamer on the defensive end was a pretty great move considering Lamar Stevens got the start for an injured Jarett Allen.
• Tobias Harris and P.J. Tucker need to start hitting their shots, or we're in for a scare with them. Harris especially...If you're being paid that amount of money, you need to have some pretty good production.
• Turnovers will KILL you in the playoffs. The Sixers finished the first quarter with seven turnovers. This would be a 10+ point game but the turnovers has let Cleveland hang around. If you let Cleveland hang around too much, it could be detrimental for this team.
Second Quarter
• The Sixers are definitely missing Jalen McDaniels tonight. The defensive bench lineup just isn't there tonight. Personally, I'm missing the Reed/McDaniels duo a lot tonight. They are monsters, defensively.
• Im surprised Doc Rivers hasn't played Danuel House Jr. at all tonight. He would help on the defensive end and give you some solid spacing. Interesting to see him still on the bench when you clearly need more of a defensive presence.
• P.J. Tucker had to replace Paul Reed at center tonight because of Reed's struggle to basically do anything out there on the floor.
• When Tobias Harris does not have it, you take him off the floor, right away. I get he's making 40 million dollars per year but this is just sad to watch.
• Joel Embiid is the best player in the NBA, by far. I cannot believe what i'm watching from this guy. Double team, triple team, it does not matter. Evan Mobley cannot do anything defensively tonight.
Third Quarter
• Tobias Harris continues to kill this team with his lack of confidence and Cleveland goes on a 10-2 run to make it a 13 point game.
• The Sixers go on a crazy run to make it a 4 point lead led by Embiid, Harden, Maxey. Finally, some life for this team after a pathetic opening to this second half.
• If you have an offensive possession where Embiid doesn't touch the ball, it is a failed possession. There was too many times in this quarter where Embiid didn't get the right amount of touches.
• I find it extremely hard to believe, but the Sixers have the lead going into the fourth quarter after a Georges Niang beat the buzzer on a corner 3.
Fourth Quarter
• Doc Rivers opened up the fourth quarter with a lineup of Harden/Milton/House Jr./Niang/Tucker. Not a lineup I was expecting tonight, but they did pretty well. Hit a few 3's and played "okay" defense which is all you can ask for with this lineup.
• P.J. Tucker is everything this team needed. Thank you, Daryl Morey for your service. What would we do without him? He had a great offensive rebound and an and one outback layup. I love this guy, I seriously do.
• Phew...Embiid is lucky. He got his 6th foul called on him and it got unexpectedly overturned. J.B Bickerstaff was extremely angry over the call and let the refs hear it for a good 5 minutes. Surprised a technical didn't get called towards him.
• A massive fourth quarter from the entire starting lineup except Tobias Harris. Just a overall great team win.
Key Takeaways
• Tobias Harris needs to get his shot back as soon as possible. If he doesn't, we might be starting a conversation about benching him until he does. The choices he makes on the court is absolutely brutal. Sure, he should've gotten some calls but it doesn't make up for the amount of wide open missed shots he's had over the last few games.
• This team missed Jalen McDaniels tonight. This team got pretty much killed with the second unit. Paul Reed seems useless without his sidekick, McDaniels. Reed had to be subbed out in the middle of the third quarter for P.J. Tucker to play some backup center. Story on Jalen McDaniels coming soon, from me.
• Maxey's passing was flat out horrible tonight. He finished the night with 3 turnovers, but it felt like 10. He needs to be on point with his passing 100% of the time. Tonight was not the case
• Shoutout to James Harden who hit some pretty tough shots tonight. He finished the night with 28 points and cashed in three 3's. He also played some pretty impressive defense down the stretch. Im impressed to say the least.
• Embiid offense and defensive presence is nothing less than jaw dropping. Cleveland was afraid the attack the paint for a majority of this game because of Embiid'd presence tonight. He offense was out of this world. Jump shots, free throws, turn around jumpers, setback jumpers. Embiid had it all tonight with 36 points and 18(!!) rebounds.
• This team needs to clean it up with the turnovers because a lot of them were flat out pathetic tonight. The team finished with a total of 18 turnovers and Cleveland was able to stay in the game because of it.
• P.J. Tucker was a monster tonight. He finished the night with 7 rebounds, and 4 of them were on the offensive end. He is going to come in handy when it's playoff time. Thank you, Daryl Morey!