Joel Embiid, Georges Niang Help 76ers Find Success vs. Suns
After putting together a three-game win streak beginning two weeks ago with victories over the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and the Washington Wizards, the Philadelphia 76ers hit a two-game skid.
Last Wednesday, the absence of Sixers center Joel Embiid was apparent when Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis took advantage of an inside mismatch and led his team to a victory over Philadelphia.
Two nights later, the Sixers faced the New York Knicks without Embiid and the star guard James Harden. Although the Sixers controlled the game going into the fourth quarter, they couldn’t maintain their early second-half success. Therefore, a tight loss issued the Sixers their second-straight loss.
On Monday, the Sixers returned to the court to face a Western Conference contender in the Phoenix Suns. Fortunately for Philadelphia, their All-Star big man returned to the floor after a three-game absence due to a battle with the flu.
Even when he’s not one hundred percent, Joel Embiid has proven time and time again just how much of an impact he has on the Sixers on both ends of the floor. Checking in for the first nine minutes of action on Monday, Embiid was highly-productive as he went 2-4 from the field and knocked down all six of his free throws to help the Sixers outscore the Suns 33-20 in the first quarter of action.
In Doc Rivers’ eyes, Joel Embiid improved as the game progressed. But right out of the gate, Embiid was back to leading the Sixers as they engaged in a tough battle with a talented squad.
“I thought he looked good,” said Rivers regarding Embiid. “We literally told him, ‘When you’re tired, signal, come out. When you’re fresh, get up and come in.’ The only time I put him in was that last stretch because they were going to make a run, and we needed him on the floor. I thought he was great. I thought he got better as the game went on, but down the stretch, he was gassed.”
Fatigue was expected for Embiid, who was already battling to get back into ideal shape before the flu symptoms affected his play. While Embiid passed the eye test against the Suns, the big man was critical of his first set of action.
“I mean, I was OK,” said Embiid. “I didn’t shoot well from the field. Under 50 percent, so I just got to get back to myself and be aggressive. As a team, I thought we missed a lot of easy shots — wide-open shots — but defensively, we were pretty good.”
Embiid finished the night with a game-high of 33 points in 36 minutes. He collected 16 of his points by being perfect from the charity stripe. In addition to his scoring, Embiid collected ten rebounds, five assists, and one block.
While Embiid was key to a successful night for the Sixers against the Suns, he wasn’t the lone star. 76ers veteran forward Georges Niang, who checked in for a season-high 27 minutes off the bench on Monday night, had his most productive outing of the year.
“Man, forget Joel — it’s about Georges Niang,” joked Tobias Harris. “He had a heck of a night for us in that fourth quarter with the second unit. The game is about timely shots. When you have a lead and a team is trying to make a run, I just thought Georges, time after time throughout the game, especially early in the fourth quarter, was able to make some big shots for us to move us from six points to nine, seven, ten, things of that nature. It deflates the other team from time to time. He had a three, and they ended up calling a timeout. Those are big plays for our group. He was huge.”
Niang had the opportunity to chuck up 11 shots on Monday against Phoenix. Ten of those shots came from beyond the arc. Going into Monday’s game, Niang’s been hitting on 45 percent of his threes through ten games. Against Phoenix, he knocked down 70 percent of his deep shots, tying his career-high of seven threes and snagging 21 points.
In Niang’s eyes, the recent growth of the team and the return of Embiid allowed him the opportunity to get more open looks, which is something he took full advantage of.
“We’re growing as a team,” said Niang. “Obviously, we struggled early on, but when the ball is hopping, I think we’re at our best. Having teams in rotation, driving back close-outs, and kicking out. Not too many teams want to be closing out, getting driven again, and having to close out. When we do that as a team, and the ball is hopping, we look really good.”
For Rivers, he was just happy to see the veteran sharpshooter remain aggressive throughout the matchup and continue to let shots fly, preventing the Suns from creeping back into the game.
“They were playing a lot of zone, they were sagging it a lot,” said Rivers. “We told our guys to draw and kick and find Georges, Tobias, you know, just our shooters. I thought Joel did a great job, but everyone did. Georges is gonna shoot the ball that’s why you have him in there. He’s an aggressive player, and you want him to be that.”
Despite entering the game as underdogs, the Sixers put the Suns away with a 100-88 victory. For Philly, they picked up their fifth win of the year in Embiid’s grand return. The Sixers will have the next two days off before traveling to Atlanta, where they’ll face the Hawks for the first of two matchups this week.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
