When the Sixers’ Joel Embiid doesn’t score 35 points, he says, ‘I feel like it’s a bad game’
Joel Embiid has scored at least 30 points in nine of the team's 15 games.
ORLANDO — Joel Embiid has been an offensive terror. The 76ers center is second in the NBA in scoring at 28.2 points per game. He has scored at least 30 in nine of the team's 15 games. He has produced 41- and 42-point performances.
So he was asked Monday night if he considers it a bad night when he doesn't score at least 30.
"Yeah, for sure," Embiid said after finishing with 35 points and 18 rebounds in a 124-114 victory over the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena.
"But sometimes you know that ball doesn't find you," he added. "So you got to make sure you do the right things, especially when it comes to defense, and getting my teammates open by setting good screens."
The ball didn't find him in a 122-97 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 4 at the Barclays Center. That's when Embiid had a season low in shot attempts, eight. He still compiled 16 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, a team-high four assists and one block, with five turnovers.
But when the ball does find him, Embiid feels as if he's been able to put up 30 points consistently with his teammates and coaches putting him in the right positions.
"But yeah, when I feel like I don't have 35 these days, I feel like it's a bad game," he said two days after scoring 14 points on 4-for-15 shooting in a 112-106 overtime loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum.
"The game against Memphis, I was trash," Embiid said. "So I needed tonight to come out and do a better job."