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Tim Bontemps, ESPN
CHICAGO — After 76ers center Joel Embiid finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds in Philadelphia’s 108-100 win against the Bulls on Sunday, he admitted it’s been a tough process mentally for him trying to get his left knee in one place. where you can play.
“Depressing,” Embiid told ESPN when asked what the last few months have been like for him. “I’m just trying to figure it out. There’s no injury. Just between the swelling… we have to figure it out. That’s all.
“I’ve been saying it for the last few months. It’s been extremely depressing. It’s something that hasn’t been resolved and it’s been extremely upsetting, because I would love to play every game.”
Embiid missed the first nine games of the season due to his knee and a league suspension. He returned to play in four games, including a 35-point performance at Memphis on Nov. 20, before being sidelined again and missing the final two and a half weeks of action due to knee inflammation as well as personal reasons.
That time off the court ended Sunday, when Embiid, after being upgraded to questionable on Saturday, went through his normal pregame workout a little less than an hour before tip-off and then was inserted back into the starting lineup alongside fellow All-Stars Tyrese. Maxey and Paul George.
Before Sunday’s game, the three had only shared the court for six minutes, all in that loss in Memphis, when George hyperextended his left knee for the second time in about a month.
But against Chicago there were glimpses of what they can do. The trio played 26 minutes together on Sunday, and the 76ers outscored the Bulls by 14 points in that span.
As a result, Embiid still has faith that despite the difficult start to the season for the 76ers, who have now posted wins in four of their last five games after opening the season 3-14, there is still time for them to get things done. they set out to do before the season started.
“It all starts with health,” Embiid told ESPN. “It felt good to have the guys on the court. I think if we’re healthy and on the court, we have a chance against anyone, and I like what we have.
“I think it’s all about health… that’s what it comes down to. I wish I could have played from the beginning. I would love to play every game, every minute, but sometimes your body just says, ‘No,’ and there’s nothing you can do.” about it. All you can do is keep working on it and getting better.”
The 76ers were down by 10 after the first quarter and were lucky it wasn’t double that. Embiid missed all six of his shots in the quarter, and the Bulls, led by 30 points from Zach LaVine, looked like they might blow Philadelphia off the floor.
“I said it on the bench a couple of times,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “I thought, ‘Wow, we could be down… we’re playing so bad, right? Really bad. We were down five a couple minutes ago. I thought, ‘How are we down five?'”
They ended up not being down for long. After missing his first seven shots of the game, Embiid made 8 of his next 10, single-handedly outscoring the Bulls (19-17) in the second quarter as Philadelphia scored 39 points in the quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish.
Many of those Embiid shots came off passes from Maxey, who recorded the first triple-double of his career with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists; 10 of those assists were passed on to Embiid, according to ESPN Research.
“It was great,” Maxey said of having Embiid on the court again. “I mean, that’s who he is… It’s easier, man. There’s a lot more space out there. I felt like today, even when he’s there and I’m not, it’s harder to maybe catch him or trap him. Whatever, they can’t catch screens, you know what I mean? Or if they don’t lead, then I can score or shoot 3 or if they drop too much and they help me too much, I’m pocket passing to him and he’s getting a layup or a layup. [midrange jumper] …makes the game easier.”
The 76ers are now tied in the loss column with the Bulls and Detroit Pistons for the 10th and final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference standings, the latest reminder of how forgiving the last place in the East is.
Still, this team is built around Embiid, and the lingering question is how his knee will respond moving forward after playing 33 minutes on Sunday. The 76ers have three games in the next 12 days due to the pause in the league’s schedule to complete the NBA Cup. Nurse said he plans to operate that stretch as another sort of training camp to get his team back on the same page.
Embiid said he’s still working on his knee issues, and time will tell how he responds to his latest improvement in playing. For now, the 76ers, who spent a couple of extra hours in the arena waiting for a plane issue to be fixed after the win, are happy to finally be gaining some momentum.
“It felt great,” George said. “It felt great to finally have some consistency with the great guy out there, me and him.” [Tyrese]. “It felt good to get the team back together and get some minutes today.”
