Joel Embiid Gives Sixers Fans a Reason To Hope Again In His Return
The lights went down at the Wells Fargo Center. Matt Cord announced the Sixers starters with his usual zeal. But there was a different name announced at the end. Joel Embiid was back. For the first time in a couple of months, MVP chants rained down from the stands. And he did not disappoint in his return to the floor.
An Impressive First Game Back For Joel Embiid
Did Joel Embiid give his typical 30-point performance? Not quite. But expecting him to come back and look 100% would be insane. He still scored 24 points in 29 minutes. More importantly, he moved well on the court. He never looked tired, or injured. And that is on his first night back. He now has several games left to keep shaking off any rust before the games will really start to count.
It gives Sixers fans something they haven’t had since he got hurt. Hope. Hope that maybe this season can still pan out. Embiid came back and in his first game back they beat one of the best teams in Basketball. The Thunder didn’t have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Sixers didn’t have Maxey.
This team, with a healthy Embiid, is one of the best in the league. It is easy to forget that given how poorly they played the past 2 months. But they are now 27-8 with him on the court. That is a winning percentage of 77.1%. Only the Celtics are better, and not by much.
Joel Embiid Makes Everyone Better
Getting Embiid back isn’t just adding his numbers to what the Sixers do otherwise. He makes every single person on the court better. He didn’t just have 24 points, he also had 7 assists. His gravity lets other players get better looks. Every time he touched the ball, they were double-teaming him. That leaves Cam Payne, Kelly Oubre Jr, or Buddy Hield open.
They finally have a plethora of 3-point shooters around Embiid. Add Tyrese Maxey, Nico Batum, and Kyle Lowry to that too. Even Tobias Harris looked slightly better with Embiid on the court. And DeAnthony Melton is close to a return as well.
As dark as February and March were for the Sixers, there is now a a glimmer of light in the distance. The fog is lifted, and we can see the lighthouse in the distance.
It won’t be easy. Even with Embiid back, they might still wind up in the play-in tournament. Anything will go there. The path to the promised land is going to be uphill. They haven’t been able to get there with favorable seeding for the past several years. Now they have to do it as a lower seed. But there is reason to think they can do that.
Despite the record, this might be the best team they have had around Embiid. And it looks like he is going to be healthy and ready to go. That alone, is a reason to have hope for the Sixers.
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