Joel Embiid checks out in a gutsy win: 33/4/8 on 12⁄23 shooting.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401869408
The big fella, less than three weeks removed from an appendectomy, refused to let the 76ers get eliminated in 5. Huge performance.
He was moving like prime Embiid a couple of possessions on defense late in the 4th there too
Wish we got all these dudes healthy, he’s truly a unicorn
It literally makes me emotional watching Embiid play well in the playoffs, and I’m not even a Sixers fan.
Such a special talent who’s been dealt such an unfortunate hand with injuries.
one of the biggest what ifs imo
I think they at least get a championship once if they kept the Jimmy - Embiid duo
Let go Toby to FA, Keep Butler, trade Simmons and picks for pre-injury Harden, give Embiid STEM cells and that’s a dynasty 🔥
Hindsight is 20⁄20 though no one would have kept Jimmy over Ben in 2019
This was very much still in the “Ben will develop a jumper one day and become LeBron lite” period where everyone viewed him as this future MVP level guy
100% people don’t talk enough about how he was maybe having the best season of all time in 23-24 before his injury
That season it felt like every first half he was putting up the easiest 20 points ever without breaking a sweat.
He was averaging more ppg than mpg. And his coach was nurse then too, so he wasn’t lacking mins.
I saw a game live in OKC and that elbow/ft line jumper was a layup it was ridiculous to see in person lol
Honestly me too, and I’ve never been a huge fan of Embiid.
I really think the NBA would be a much better product if they shortened the season, at this point injuries determine playoff outcomes just as much as team-play. Fully healthy series are so rare, and I think an improved post-season product would make up all the revenue they lose in regular season earnings.
It seems so near-sighted.
Couldn’t agree more. Every season it was “who’s healthy” by playoffs and nothing else matters. Every. Single. Time.
A good start would be to lower regular season games to 65 games and I bet the product would be better.
If we lose this series I hope we buy embiid out or something since the gm is dogshit and our coach is a sex pest , him playing with Steph would be fire
before the injuries he was the best big man in the league for a couple years imo. Elite impact on both sides of the ball.
He started off like 1⁄7 shooting and 0/4 from 3 btw
11-16 after that. He was amazing in the 2nd half.
Stopped settling for jumpers and used his big ass body. He needs to do that in game 6 as well
And he was hedging screens and getting out on Tatum and Brown. How he has the energy when he’s been out so long I have no idea
I hope he can stay healthy for you guys. Philly could for sure force game 7 and then anything can happen if he’s healthy and plays like he did tonight.
were well, well overdue for something good to happen for us that last more than 10 seconds but its gonna be tough. At least the season aint over yet and we have a punchers chance
Especially against the Celtics front court which is legit terrible.
It’s now clear that’s the only way the sixers can compete in this series. Embiid working the paint. And when they double, your shooters have to hit.
Tough and excellent performance from him tonight. Thought it was lost when he got that knee injury. But came back and continued to cook!
probably the most resilient dude in the league. he’s made 300+ million, has an MVP, scoring titles, injured literally every part of his body and has never had a truly healthy year, insane career numbers… he’s just a warrior.
I love u for that comment combined with your flair.
He’s that guy when healthy
I’ll ride with Embiid until the wheels fall off
same but -with
Honest question: what is the general feelings about Joel with the majority of Philly fans?
Love him forever.
The real fans will ride with him all the way to the depths of hell. Anyone who doesn’t can eat the collective ass of the real fans.
Lots of casual mouthbreather fans have been out on him, the calls to trade him have never been louder with the youth movement we have now. They’ll miss him when he’s gone tho. Without a doubt he’s the most uniquely skilled player who will ever wear that jersey.
I will always love him, no matter what the rest of his career holds.
Disgusting 2nd half. Dudes toughness is something else
absolutely cooked in the post tonight
That includes 0/5 from 3 in the first half.
Yeah, also the commenters were talking about how he stopped shooting jumpers (i mean he stopped taking threes) but his mid range jumpers were the reason they won the game today
True but his midrange got hot again after bodying Vucevic to the basket like 4 possessions in a row
Help when refs walk him to the line every time he flops
There was one bad call all game where he dribbled it off his foot otherwise he bodied Vuc in the 2nd half
lol he got bailed out on 4 misses alone on top of that dribbling off his foot. Your brain has watched him flop so much you’re confused what is an actual foul
I’ll raise you 4 bail outs with JB’s 25 pushoffs
lol salty celtics fan.
prime Embiid clears ever 2020s player
except for bubble TJ Warren
Triggered just reading this
There’s definitely a case to be made for this except current SGA. You can even argue Embiid>Jokic if you really believe the injuries were affecting his playoff performance and in particular take a look at 2024 Embiid’s advanced stats (they’re far better than Jokic’s). The other guys with an argument over prime Embiid would be 2020 Lebron, 2021⁄22 Steph, and 2020⁄21 Giannis, but I can see an argument for Embiid over all of them.
you can argue embiid>jokic just by the fact that one is a defensive liability and the other is one of the best rim protectors in the league
celtics fans got real loud when embiid checked out to the locker room, and became quiet real fast when he came back 🤣🤣🤣
Brilliant player
People were calling him a net negative and saying he needs to retire in the 1st half
That was me, glad he pulled it together and destroyed the celtics haha
There are clearly some mystical forces trying to stop him from playing basketball and the mystical forces are losing
But I heard there he ruined the “flow” of the offense because of one game back from injury
Bro we have some real braindead fans posting on Reddit.
Braindead tv and radio analysts were saying this too
Well you can’t pay any attention to them.
give him his flowers
Statement game
Sixers would have been a much higher seed with him playing even 15 games more
we had a losing record without him
everyone was dumb as hell saying we were better without him
To add to this. Our net rating with embiid is +5.5. Without him it’s 0.
Can’t help but feel like we were robbed of an all time career by injuries. That MVP year he was an elite defender while being arguably the best offensive player in the league.
Was the following year where he really had it all figured out. Was like watching Neo read the source code for the first time. Only a few months before the knee took him out, but watching him was obvious he was ready to do it all season.
So proud of him/happy for him
I just want this man to beat Boston for once
There’s a version of Joel Embiid’s career where he had normal injury luck throughout his prime and I wish we got to see it. We were robbed of so much greatness
He cooked them tonight
incredible
Brian scalibrine & other dude on the morning NBA podcast were talking crazy about Embid this morning. Glad he had this game today.
Scalabrine has been saying this is Maxey’s team forever. Maxey’s great but he’s not taking us past the first round against anyone without Embiid
Genuinely impressed that he managed this.
Man I’m not even a Sixers fan but I like Embiid so much. He’s such a talented player, would arguably be the best center in the league if he could stay heathy, but his body has just worked against him. You hate to see it
We won TWICE baby I’m listening to the Orlando Magic song IDC
Iconic performance
I could watch him shoot those fadeaways from the block all day
Don’t make a believer out of me now Joel…
And with his kid at the end. All the Embiid haters are incels.
Give the man his respect. He’s playing through tons of pain.
Underrated
Gutsy win. I see you OP.
One of the best performances of his career, I cannot believe no coach has told him to get in the fucking paint when the middies aren’t falling.
He’s unstoppable damn near in the paint, it would’ve saved him so much past slander
His mid range will always be damn near unguardable, we know this
But Vuc and Queta were absolute food in the post tonight and that’s the only part that scares me about these next two games.
Grant Williams and Horford did a great job against Embiid because they had great lower body strength and wouldnt get pushed around. The Celtics do not have a defender who can do that right now.
This dude just dropped an efficient 33 points facing elimination. NBA players are literally built different.
Mad respect for him for coming back and still putting up these performances
Mf wasn’t even playing basketball before turning 16 and he is not even on the top of his game.
He transformed from The Process to The Surgery
He’s good but I just don’t like him