Draymond Green spoke with the media about what Joel Embiid told him after 46-point masterclass against the Warriors
The Golden State Warriors stormed back from an 11-point deficit to beat the Philadelphia 76ers last night 120-112, despite a 46-point effort from Joel Embiid.
Embiid was 13-for-23 from the floor and connected on 19 of 22 free throws to go along with nine rebounds, eight assists, two steals and a block on the night.
The Sixers took an 88-79 lead into the fourth quarter and for whatever reason, Doc Rivers, I guess, found that to be a comfortable margin. The Sixers’ head coach started the final frame with the following lineup, which as you can see, was questionable at best.
Sixers Lineup to begin the 4th Quarter
- Shake Milton
- Tyrese Maxey
- Georges Niang
- Furkan Korkmaz
- Paul Reed
Embiid played the entire third quarter, so obviously, he needed a break at some point, but the fact that Rivers opted to play him the entire third and not stagger his minutes to avoid a situation where you start the final frame on the road with that rotation while holding a double-digit lead is a criminal offense.
The result, as you could imagine, was Embiid checking back into the game with 8:26 left on the clock as Jordan Poole scored on a driving dunk to put Golden State back to 93-91.
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Even with Embiid checking back in with 8:26 left on the clock and scoring 13 straight points, the effort wasn’t enough as Jordan Poole scored on a driving dunk to put Golden State back 93-91. Poole scored 33 points including a clutch 3-pointer with just 1:18 left on the clock as Steph Curry scored 29 points and Klay Thompson scored 21 points to go along with six rebounds in the win.
After the game, Draymond Green spoke with the media and shared a conversation he had with Embiid.
Originally tweeted by Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) on March 25, 2023.
Joel Embiid’s message to Draymond Green
“You know why I played like that tonight? You said Joker was the hardest person to guard in the league. I took that personal.“
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic and Denver Nuggets head coach, Mike Malone, want nothing to do with the MVP Award this season.
Why…? Ah. Maybe it’s because the entire world isn’t praising Nikola Jokic as the runaway MVP winner while players like Joel Embiid get discredited and downright criticized in the process. That must be it.
The fact that Joel Embiid is dominating every single night and is still hungry to bring home the NBA MVP Award after years of being looked over is fantastic. Respect the mindset.
The Sixers will be in Phoenix tonight followed by Denver on Monday night. I would be surprised if Embiid played tonight on the second leg of a back-to-back with a heated matchup against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, but we’ll see.
No word on James Harden and Jalen McDaniels.
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