Joel Embiid is simply as good as it gets in basketball these days.
He turned in an astonishing performance Saturday night, recording his fourth career triple-double (40 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists) in a 103-93 Sixers win over the Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center.
Cavs guard Darius Garland scored a team-high 27 points.
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James Harden touched down in Philadelphia on Saturday and got a warm greeting from Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. There’s no date set yet for his Sixers debut. Once Harden is cleared on the health front, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said that the team plans to play him and a practice wouldn’t be necessary. Harden and Paul Millsap were the Sixers’ only two inactive players.
Collin Sexton (left knee meniscus tear) and Lauri Markkanen (right ankle sprain) were out for Cleveland.
The Sixers' final home game before the All-Star break is Tuesday night against the Celtics. Here are observations on their win over the Cavs:
Early Embiid-Thybulle connection key
NBA
Embiid played with a black wrap on his right wrist. Rivers said the team was not concerned about the swelling Embiid first experienced ahead of the Sixers’ win Friday over the Thunder, though the All-Star big man indicated after the game that it might not be a short-term issue.
“It’s all right," he said. “Something that’s probably going to be there for a while, but just got to keep managing it. Pretty sore, but hopefully it’ll be fine.”
Jarrett Allen and Cleveland had no answers against Embiid, conceding 14 points (on five field-goal attempts) to him within seven minutes and 16 seconds. Embiid busted a Cavs zone possession with a three-pointer, beat Allen with a rip-through move and established early control of the game.
One way he did that was making Cleveland pay for its plan of having Evan Mobley roam defensively. Mobley was technically assigned to Matisse Thybulle but eager to help on Embiid. Thybulle identified the resulting chances to score, posting four of the Sixers’ first seven points on a layup and dunk off of Embiid assists.
“Matisse, that’s what we’ve been working on for the last two years, just to be on the same page," Embiid said. “As soon as I catch the ball, someone doubles. We have designated cutters that are supposed to do their job, and Matisse has been excellent at it all season long. We’ve come a long way since last year.
“We know our game plan. If teams are doubling from the top, we know who should be cutting. If they’re coming from the baseline, we know who should be slashing and to make sure that we get a wide-open shot on the opposite corner.”
Led by Embiid, the Sixers were extraordinarily efficient in the first quarter, beginning 13 of 17 from the floor. A driving Furkan Korkmaz layup stretched their lead to 34-19.
Korkmaz came off the bench and Danny Green started alongside Thybulle. Deep analysis of Rivers’ rotation likely doesn't make sense at this stage, since Harden’s presence will change plenty, but he’d become more open to the Green-Thybulle pair before the Sixers’ deadline deal. Those two won’t start for a fully healthy team, but they’re still the Sixers’ two top wings and good together.
It's easy to take Thybulle's defensive talent for granted because he so consistently blows up opponents' intentions. He set a new career high Saturday with six steals.
“Like I always say, he has a chance to be Defensive Player of the Year … after I get it," Embiid said with a grin.
That’s the dunk of the season, right?
Paul Reed backed up Embiid for a second straight night and wasn’t overmatched at all against Mobley, a do-it-all 7-footer and Rookie of the Year contender.
Reed wrapped a lefty layup around Mobley, stayed on his body defensively without searching too hard for impactful plays, and stuck to his strengths. Instead of forcing contested shots, he kicked the ball out to the perimeter after securing offensive rebounds. Rivers has sounded high on Reed’s chances of helping the post-deadline Sixers. That would be a big role for a second-year player drafted with the 58th pick, but perhaps Reed will seize it.
Whoever the Sixers use at backup center, the bottom line is they’ll always be best off when Embiid’s on the court. That was the case Saturday and Cleveland trimmed its deficit down to two points late in the second quarter. Embiid then had an injury scare, drawing a foul on Allen and grabbing his back.
The home crowd’s unease about Embiid’s health almost immediately shifted into jubilation and disbelief. He threw down a dunk with shades of prime Blake Griffin, Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards.
Decent explosiveness for someone who’s joked that he’s “7-2, 600 pounds.”
“I’ve always dreamed about watching Blake throwing the ball in the rim without even touching the rim," Embiid said. “Back in the day, Lob City, I’ve always thought that it was extremely exciting and I’ve always wished that I could do it. But obviously they jump way higher than me. I saw the video. It was crazy. And it was cool that I was finally able to make my dreams come true.”
Embiid’s first-half stat line would’ve been a solid night’s work for many stars: 24 points, six assists, five rebounds. Tremendous to watch, frightening to face. The next logical step in a rapidly rising career is deep playoff success, which the Sixers hope happens with Harden.
Garland’s firepower doesn’t doom Sixers
Garland, who stands almost a foot shorter than Embiid, kept pace with his relentless shotmaking in the first half.
The first-time All-Star’s major disadvantage was only taking two foul shots, but he hurt the Sixers with pull-up three-pointers and creative, intuitive baskets. A scoop shot and a high-arcing baseline jumper were among his best.
However, after making a three 25 seconds into the third quarter, Garland only scored four more points. Rivers appreciated Tobias Harris' role in limiting the 22-year-old.
“I thought the unsung hero of the game was Tobias … that third quarter guarding Garland," Rivers said. “Matisse had fouls, needed a blow, and we were going to give him one possession. And we actually put someone else on Garland and Tobias said, ‘I got him.’
“We said, ‘OK. Let’s see.’ And that six-minute stretch from late in the third to early in the fourth without Matisse on the floor and Tobias on Garland was absolutely huge for us tonight.”
Unlike Embiid, Garland was ineffective as a facilitator on a one-assist night. And the Sixers’ starting point guard also didn’t have a bad offensive game; Tyrese Maxey was the team’s No. 2 scorer with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
Shake Milton chipped in six points on 3-for-5 shooting and five assists, too. He looked comfortable playing through contact in his second game since a Jan. 3 back contusion and scored in the paint on the team’s final possession of the first and third quarters.
With Milton on the court and Embiid taking his final rest, the Sixers built their lead to 14 points early in the fourth quarter. That edge dipped to seven points before a bit of superstar intervention from Embiid, who made a fadeaway jumper and top-of-the-key three on back-to-back possessions.
Soon after, Embiid sealed his triple-double with a hit-ahead pass to Harris for a dunk. He even threw in some flashy open-floor ball handling to create an and-one layup. The "MVP" chants were absolutely valid.
Maxey recognized the convincing live-dribble, one-handed pass fake as a Chris Paul trick. Embiid thought it was a tool worth adding.
“Oh yeah, for sure," he said. “As you probably know, I watch a lot of guards, especially (Paul), whether it’s that … whatever I did. I did that early in the season, too. That’s a good way to kind of fake the defense. If they react, make plays. If they don’t, find my wide-open teammate. That’s what we’ve been working on.
“I’m a student of the game. I try to take really a lot of things from every player, whether it’s a guard or point guard, or big man or small forward, just to try to add to my game. Me on the fast break, obviously that’s a huge development for me and it’s allowing me to just take my game to another level as far as making plays for teammates, or attacking, too. It’s fun. Just got to keep on doing it.”