Joel Embiid's Ability to be a Game-Changer was on Display vs. Magic

Heading into Friday night's game against the Orlando Magic, the Philadelphia 76ers were shorthanded. On Wednesday, the team's starting power forward Ben Simmons suffered a left kneecap subluxation. While his timeline for a return is still unknown, the Sixers knew Simmons wasn't going to play on Friday. Therefore, 76ers head coach Brett Brown called for Joel Embiid, Al Horford, and Tobias Harris to step up even more.

At first, the Sixers came out flat on Friday night. Through two quarters of play, the team trailed against the Magic 50-48. Overall, the Sixers drained just 38-percent of their shots from the field. Joel Embiid, specifically, only snagged three baskets for six points. Instead of being aggressive and getting to the hoop, the Sixers' big man continued to settle for low-percentage jump shots, which called for criticism from the analysts back in the TNT studios.

"Do you want to be an all-star or a superstar?" said former NBA legend Charles Barkley in regards to Embiid at halftime. "Those things are different. You are unguardable. Every time you take a jump shot, you bail the defense out." Barkley wasn't the only one to criticize Embiid's lack of dominance down low in the first half. Guest star Draymond Green also offered his two cents, echoing the same sentiment as Barkley.

The chances of Embiid listening to the halftime show is zero -- but you would've thought he did hear the comments after seeing how he came out in the second half. During the third quarter, Embiid played all but two minutes. During that time, he collected 12 points and got to the free-throw line four times. At that point, the Sixers became a much more physical team, and coaches and players credited the big man for inspiring an urgency to start playing more physical in the second half. 

"Joel Embiid came out in the third quarter, and it was clear his disposition changed," said Sixers head coach Brett Brown on Friday night. "We spoke about it a lot at halftime. I think that Joel set sort of the fire. Joel set the tone. We had our best close-out period with 22 points defensively that we had since we've been here. I think it happened earlier, and I think that Joel started it with probably as much offensive play as it was his defensive play. Look at the free throws that Joel shot in the second half as an example. I think whatever point it was in the third period, that's where it started to pivot."

Embiid's fellow big man Al Horford also credited the three-time All-Star for changing the momentum of the game when the Sixers needed it the most. "I think it was Joel -- he changed the game for us in the second half," Horford claimed. "He didn't care what was going on and what they were throwing at him. He was just going to go dominate and be assertive, and when he does that and has that mindset, all I can say is good luck."

Embiid's third-quarter rally didn't help the Sixers get in front to start the final quarter of the game, but it helped set a team-wide tone. And by the time the game was in its last minutes, the 76ers managed to create separation from Orlando on the scoreboard and come away with a 108-101 victory over the Magic. Moving forward, the Sixers would like to see themselves playing less catchup at the half, but all in all, Friday's win while shorthanded really showed that Joel Embiid can be a gamechanger when he's up for the challenge. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_