Joel Embiid Talks Sixers' Comeback Mentality vs. Blazers

On Friday night, the Wells Fargo Center saw the Philadelphia 76ers, in an unfortunate familiar setting, down a massive deficit to their opponents.

Last week, it was the Milwaukee Bucks. On Friday, it was the Portland Trail Blazers, thanks in large part to an emphatic display from Anfernee Simons, who dropped 34 points on 59 percent shooting.

If it wasn't due to Portland's offense, it was due to a sputtering Philadelphia offense in the first half, only managing to shoot with 45 percent efficiency in comparison to the Trail Blazers' 61 percent.

Yet, just as the Sixers' have done two other times this season, they carved a way back into the game, with Joel Embiid dropping 39 points for the second straight game, with 19 coming in the two closing quarters.

His last bucket gave Philadelphia their first lead of the night with only 1.1 seconds left on the clock, as the Cameroonian star hit a spin move bucket at the free throw line to ice off Portland.

Following his clutch shot, Embiid talked to NBC Sports Philadelphia about Friday night's comeback and his team's trust in those big moments.

"I had to get a bucket, we fought through the whole game, being down 20 or something at one point," said Embiid. "To be able to come back in a game like that, especially down one, you gotta make those plays, but my teammates and coaches trust me, so I gotta do my job."

While Embiid feels great about the win, he is more than aware that these deficits and slow starts won't get the Sixers far in the playoffs.

"It's great to see that we got it, but you always gotta see the good and the bad. We gotta be better, starting games, putting ourselves in that type of hole," explained Embiid, "It's not gonna work in the playoffs, so we gotta keep finding ways of getting better to make sure that doesn't happen."

Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.

For live updates on the Philadelphia 76ers, follow @All76ersFN on Twitter!