Joel Embiid channels 'different mindset' in career-best performance
Tuesday 25 February 2020 09:51, UK
Joel Embiid made good on his promise to play with a "different mindset" as he racked up a career-best 49 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Embiid sank a three-pointer to reach his new career-high points total, flashed a big smile, cupped his ear to get the crowd screaming even louder and did a little dance.
When the Big Man is having fun, he is almost impossible to stop.
Embiid also grabbed 14 rebounds and Tobias Harris had 25 points as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 129-112 on Monday night. Missing All-Star Ben Simmons for the second time in three games because of a back injury, the Sixers mixed up their starting line-up and got 15 points from Furkan Korkmaz in a reserve role.
Embiid carried them.
"I said before the All-Star break I was going to have a different mindset, be aggressive," Embiid said. "I said I was going to get back to having fun. Having fun comes in different forms. I don't have to always be smiling and laughing. I can have fun just dominating the game."
The Sixers need consistency from Embiid to move into position for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They pulled within a half-game of Miami for fourth place in the Eastern Conference following the Heat's overtime loss at Cleveland.
"With the news of Ben, (Joel) has to come out and play the way he did," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "When he comes with that activity, that mentality, that energy, he makes a statistician work and we're going to win a lot of games."
Harris praised Embiid for his ''dominance'' and added: "He can do that every single night if he wanted to."
Trae Young led Atlanta with 28 points despite missing 9-of-11 from three-point range. De'Andre Hunter added 22 and John Collins had 21 for the Hawks.
After trailing by 21 in the first half, the Hawks outscored Philadelphia 23-9 to start the third quarter. They closed out the period with an 8-0 run and took a 92-91 lead into the fourth after Young nailed a three.
The Sixers went up to stay on four consecutive free throws by Embiid. Harris sank a three-pointer to extend the lead to 105-98.
Embiid's dunk and 19-footer put Philadelphia up by 15 with 3:08 left, and the All-Star center heard ''MVP!'' chants when he went to the foul line in the final minutes.
Embiid made 14-of-15 free throws and 17-of-24 from the floor. He hit a three in the final minute to set his personal best. His previous high was 46 against the Lakers on November 15, 2017.
"Our guys were brilliant in the third quarter to compete and take the lead," Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. "Obviously, Joel is a handful."
After the game, Embiid backtracked somewhat after calling himself the best player in the world following an excellent performance last Thursday against Brooklyn.
"What I said was, All-Star game, fourth quarter, I was out there with some of the best players in the world and I'm out there just dominating, just being unstoppable, just doing whatever I want, especially in the post, so I felt that was a chance for me to prove I deserve to be in that conversation," Embiid said.
"If I play every night like I played tonight, what more can you say? I just got to keep on doing it. I know I'm not (the best in the world) but I do believe it… I got to prove it. I got to win. My goal is to win a championship. That's how you prove you're up there."
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