Joel Embiid is fulfilling his preseason vow to facilitate more for Sixers

NEW YORK — A smile crossed Danuel House Jr.’s face before the reporter finished the question, because the 76ers’ wing instantly knew the play about to be referenced.

As House moved down the left side of the court and toward the basket in the third quarter of Friday’s 126-116 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Joel Embiid received a bounce pass from Tyrese Maxey near the right elbow off a pick-and-roll. Embiid immediately flipped the ball across his body and to House for the easy layup, drawing a surprised reaction from the opposing crowd and a “nice pass” acknowledgement from the Hawks’ television broadcast.

That was perhaps the flashiest pass of an eight-assist night for Embiid, which tied his season high and complemented his 32 points and seven rebounds to help elevate his team’s record to 9-3. And that play — and performance — epitomized Embiid’s preseason vow, which is now coming to fruition, to follow his MVP season by becoming even more of a facilitator. He has averaged six assists through the Sixers’ first 12 games entering Sunday afternoon’s matchup against the Brooklyn Nets.

“He’s been willing to pass, but this year, he’s really buying in,” House said. " … He’s not worried about scoring 50 every night, you know what I’m saying? He wants to win.”

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Embiid’s assist mark entering Sunday is nearly two more per game than he averaged in each of the past two seasons, when he set and matched a career high at 4.2.

He nearly hit that figure with four first-quarter assists Friday night, which was more than the Hawks had as a team (three). Embiid found Tobias Harris twice inside early, helping ignite the standout forward’s season-high 29-point effort. Later in the opening frame, Embiid nonchalantly dropped the ball behind his back to Robert Covington in the left corner to fire a three-pointer.

Embiid then totaled three more assists in the third quarter — including that slick dish to House — to supplement his 13 points and help the Sixers build an eventual double-digit lead. And one of his more impressive sequences — when he stopped his drive to sling the ball over his right shoulder to House at the three-point arc, then got the ball back, then immediately dumped a bounce pass to a cutting House — is not registered as a stat because it occurred in the middle of a possession.

“They want to blitz in the pick-and-roll, so I was left with the ball a lot of times to just make plays,” Embiid said of the Hawks’ defensive scheme. " … Most of the time, [an extra defender] was stepping up on me, and that means there were two guys wide open on the other side.”

Multiple factors have led to Embiid’s uptick in assists. Playmaking elements — such as learning how to recognize double teams and bait extra defenders while operating more with the ball from the mid-post area — were already a focus in recent seasons. In first-year coach Nick Nurse’s offensive system, ball movement is the fuel. The departure of James Harden, who led the league in assists last season (10.7) and dominated the ball with his dribbling, has also opened more opportunities for Embiid and others to distribute.

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But the coach mostly credits Embiid’s commitment to playmaking. The big man immediately expressed excitement with leaning into such a style, saying “I never liked just being an [isolation] player. I don’t think that’s the right way to play, and I don’t feel that’s the right way to win.”

His goal, he added, was “making it easy for everyone else” and “trying to get my teammates involved as much as possible.” He used those preseason practices to identify optimal angles to deliver specific passes to specific teammates.

Those Sixers, though, also must be sharp in their cuts and spacing. Nurse said his team did not execute that well enough during Wednesday’s home loss to the Boston Celtics, and made it a focus during Friday’s shootaround.

House added that Embiid regularly directs others on where to be when he is double-teamed, telling them “If you go to this area, I can get it to you.” But Embiid still wants more, saying after the win in Atlanta that “we’re still a step too slow.”

Embiid is putting up these assist numbers while still entering Sunday ranked first in the NBA in scoring, at 31.9 points per game on 50.6% shooting. Maxey noted that, when Embiid demonstrates he can consistently distribute, a defender might hesitate to swarm Embiid as a help defender. That then gives Embiid even more freedom to dominate one-on-one with his power and skill.

“He’s going to need guys to help him score,” Maxey said. “He’s going to need guys to help him space. And because he trusts guys, that’s going to give him more opportunities.”

Though the season’s sample size remains small, Embiid so far has followed through on his preseason vow to facilitate. And when asked about some of his passes in Friday’s win, Nurse’s immediate reaction was “awesome.”

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