76ers vs. Grizzlies: Steven Adams Receives Credit for Dominance

Grizzlies big man Steven Adams had himself a night against the 76ers on Friday.

There aren’t many big men in the NBA who can out-muscle Joel Embiid when it comes to fighting for rebounds and defending. Over the course of the All-Star’s career, though, Embiid has found out that Steven Adams is one of very few players that will be a handful for the Sixers’ big man.

Prior to Friday’s meeting between the two bigs in Memphis, Adams had out-rebounded Embiid in four of seven matchups between each other. Going into their Friday night battle with the Grizzlies, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers put an emphasis on rebounding, considering it one of two make-or-break factors going against the Grizzlies.

Unfortunately, the rebounding battle wasn’t even close on Friday night. As expected, Steven Adams was a big reason for that.

For the fifth time in his career, Steven Adams out-rebounded Joel Embiid. While the Sixers’ big man scored well over his average when going against Adams, collecting 35 points in 40 minutes, the game was essentially won on the boards for Memphis.

“It’s offensive rebounds,” Rivers said to reporters after the loss. “That was the difference. It just killed us. Adams is great. I’ll give him credit. We even doubled-teamed him twice on the glass, and he still got them. That’s something we’ll watch. You know, there are a couple more I thought we could have gotten to just keep it alive, but that hurt us.”

Offensively, Adams grabbed ten rebounds on Friday night, which tied the Sixers’ entire roster. In total, the Grizzlies had 57 rebounds, 15 more than the 76ers. Adams was responsible for 16 of Memphis’ 57 rebounds, while Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris led the Sixers with 11 rebounds apiece.

Although Adams got the best of Embiid at times, the Sixers were satisfied with their big man’s performance as he scored 35 points while collecting 11 rebounds, eight assists, and three blocked shots. 

“He’s doing a lot of good things for the team, and I thought we played at a good pace tonight,” Rivers said regarding Embiid. “You know, the problem is, again, I go back to the turnovers and offensive rebounds. How many fast breaks did we have and didn’t score and came up empty on? So, those are the things we have to do better.”

By getting destroyed on the boards and losing the transition game, the Sixers came up short with a 117-109 loss to Memphis. Losing two in a row, the Sixers drop to 12-11 on the year before taking making one last stop in Houston on the current road trip. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.