Joel Embiid masterful in return, 76ers beat West No.1 Thunder

Philadelphia 76ers superstarcenter Joel Embiid made a successful return to the court from hisinjury to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 109-105, on Tuesday nightat the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Philadelphia.

The league’s reigning MVP scored24 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists in 29minutes of play in his first game back since January 30, missingthe last 27 games for the Sixers.

Embiid was actually listed out12 hours before the game after reports surfaced he might play athome vs the Thunder. He was upgraded to questionable and agame-time decision a few hours later. It was only then 90 minutesbefore tipoff that it was announced he was going toplay.

“I’m just happy we got throughand we got the win,” said a visibly gassed Embiid after the game.“Usually when I get hurt, I just move on to the next one. This onewas a little – it took a toll mentally. You know, I just wanna comeback [asap] and I think we got a chance even if I’m not in thelevel I’m at – and I’m only gonna get better. But, this one wasprobably the hardest by far – especially mentally.”

Embiid looked spry and ready togo by being aggressive early in the game, but it was clear he wasstill not in game shape conditioning-wise after some shortfront-rim misses on his jumpers. His minutes ended up gettingmanaged all game long with Coach Nick Nurse playing him in spurtsto help him regain his MVP form.

Embiid was mainly playedalongside probably the Sixers’ best lineup in Kyle Lowry (Maxeycould be in this place but was injured for this game), Buddy Hield,Tobias Harris, and Nicolas Batum and had his best stretch withthose four alongside him. The Sixers ran different actionsincluding their patented two-man game as well as dribble handoffsand pick-and-pop jumpers for either the normal or invertedscreening actions.

Even up against a Thunder teammissing MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and star tandem JalenWilliams, the Sixers had a hard time putting away the top team inthe West. It wasn’t until the 4th quarter when the Sixers took themomentum and eventually the lead with huge efforts from Kyle Lowryand Kelly Oubre Jr.

However, none of it was biggerthan Embiid’s two sequences with under a minute to go in the 4thquarter. He sank two free throws after grabbing an offensiverebound off Harris’ miss and then forced a turnover on Josh Giddey– stealing the ball and making another two free throws aftergetting fouled on the drive to throw the game out of OKC’sreach.

With the win, the Sixers move to41-35, placing 8th in the Eastern Conference. They are one and ahalf-game back of the Heat for 7th place and just two games behindthe Pacers for the 6th spot.

Philadelphia is trying to make alate push out of the play-in tournament with Embiid back in thefold with six games left in their regular season. They will haveupcoming big games against Miami (which they will face in theirnext game) and Orlando while facing non-playoff teams Memphis,Detroit, San Antonio, and Brooklyn in the otherfour.