The Philadelphia 76ers were surprisingly defeated by the Brooklyn Nets. In a close game, Joel Embiid is no longer used in the fourth quarter. Head coach Nick Nurse criticizes the center indirectly.
The Sixers lost for the seventh time in a row, and with a record of 20-36 they now even have to let the Brooklyn Nets (21-35) take the lead and are in a disappointing twelfth place in the Eastern Conference.
In the loss, Joel Embiid only played 31 minutes, in which he scored a mere 14 points (5/14 FG) and missed all six of his three-pointers. In the fourth quarter, the former MVP was only sat on the bench and had to watch as the Nets clinched the game with a tip-in from Nic Claxton as the buzzer sounded.
After the game, Embiid left the arena without speaking to any journalists, but others did so instead. “He gives us what he can, but we all know that he’s not himself,” said Head Coach Nurse when asked about his center. “He’s not at the highest level right now that we all know. But I can demand that he gives everything when he’s on the court.”
Embiid still not in top form
Instead, Nurse went with a small lineup in the fourth quarter with Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, Kelly Oubre, Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele, who started another comeback after trailing by 17 points. “This group had played well together and I didn’t want to change that.”
The fact that Embiid still did not return raises questions. After all, the center only extended his contract by three more years and $193 million until 2029 in September. Due to ongoing knee problems, the 30-year-old only played 18 times, and the game against Brooklyn was already the sixth time this season that Embiid scored a maximum of 15 points. By comparison, in the three years prior to this, this had only happened to the Cameroonian five times in 173 games.
