James Harden, Sixers give praise to Joel Embiid for big game vs. Bulls
PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers needed one player of their star duo to step up and provide a big game on a night where things weren’t exactly going their way against a pesky Chicago Bulls team.
On Monday night, it was Joel Embiid to the rescue as it has on so many nights of the 2021-22 season. The big fella went for 43 points on 15-for-27 shooting and he pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the Sixers to a 121-106 win over the Bulls to sweep the season series. It is also Philadelphia’s 11th straight win over Chicago overall.
Embiid did a lot of good things out there as he also shot 14-for-16 from the free-throw line. He had a lot of success against Chicago big men Tristan Thompson and Tony Bradley as he made life tough for both of them.
James Harden
Harden was the one who wanted to come in and make Embiid’s life easier out on the floor. However, the big fella made Harden’s life easier as The Beard focused more on playmaking finishing with 14 assists on the night with his 16 points.
“Yeah. I just had to go out there and be a playmaker tonight,” Harden laughed. “He had it going from the beginning. I seen that. If he needed help, I was there to help him, but 43 points is a pretty good game. I think all of us just tried to fill in where we needed to.”
When Embiid attracts the attention that he does on a nightly basis, life gets easier for Thybulle who is able to take advantage of the open spots on the floor. He kept it very simple when asked about Embiid’s performance.
“Joel’s pretty impressive every night,” he smiled. “I like when he dunks. Yeah!”
Doc Rivers
Embiid seemed to be forcing a lot in the team’s previous two games. He was receiving a lot of attention–rightfully so–from the defense and he had a couple of frustrating games out on the floor. He was able to attack from the get-go in this one while also dictating how he wanted the Bulls to play.
“Just got it in rhythm,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We didn’t force it. We got him in the right spot. I thought the cutting and the spacing—I thought what he did early. He passed a couple, we got a couple 3s, they pulled off some of the trapping, and then Joel 1-on-1 is very difficult. I also liked that he got a lot of it in transition on the post. I liked that a lot.”
Embiid himself
It also does help that the Bulls didn’t have Nikola Vucevic to contend with. Guys like Thompson and Bradley are also a bit of a step down in competition from the previous centers like Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen or Miami’s Bam Adebayo.
“Just being aggressive,” Embiid explained. “The last couple games, the last two games, I’ve had bad starts so I just wanted to be aggressive and really live in the paint and that third quarter, they got in foul trouble, and we got in the bonus early. I just wanted to be aggressive and whether it was ducking in and live in the paint so it paid off.”
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