Breaking down Joel Embiid’s season-high 11 assists against the Lakers, and what they say about the Sixers’ offense

The 76ers’ practice schedule typically includes a segment focused on positioning Joel Embiid in the spots where his court vision is clearest when swarmed by defenders, and then drilling how those complementary teammates should move around the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player. Coach Nick Nurse may start with one group of four, then fully switch it out like a hockey line change.

“We’re constantly on the cutting, the relocation and the re-spacing — rather than just standing there with your hands up [waiting for the ball],” Nurse said. " … We just keep working on all the things that we possibly can see with [opponents] sending multiple players to us.”

It’s the next phase, Embiid believes, after solidifying last season that the elbow (the corner where the free throw line meets the lane line) and nail (at the middle of the free throw line) are the ideal places for him to operate with the ball in his hands. Now with Nurse’s playing style combined with Embiid’s desire to facilitate, his assist numbers continue to climb.

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He totaled a season-high 11 dimes as part of his first triple-double of 2023-24 during Monday’s thrashing over the Los Angeles Lakers — and could have challenged for his career mark (13, set in 2019 against the Milwaukee Bucks) if the lopsided score not kept him on the bench for the entire final period. His 6.6 average through 16 games played is also a career best, and is only rising after recording at least seven helpers in six of his past eight games. And Embiid is doing this while still leading the NBA in scoring (32 points per game) entering Tuesday, while also averaging 11.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game for the 12-5 Sixers.

“We’re just playing off of each other,” Embiid said following Monday’s performance, “and we’re just allowed to see whatever the defense is giving us and we’re going from there. For myself, it’s just about making it simple. Obviously, I can post up. But I just feel like it just slows down the game so much. Because if you don’t get a good angle, now you’ve got guys just standing there [and] the clock is going down, instead of just playing with movement.

“[In this system], you’re at the top of the key, dribble-handoff, getting my guys open or pushing the ball up the floor and finding guys or attacking. That’s what’s been working, and we’re going to keep doing it.”

A review of each of Embiid’s assists against the Lakers demonstrates how he — and the those teammates — have increased the big man’s impact as a distributor:

Embiid and Maxey easily exploited Max Christie trying to toggle between them on the left side. The Lakers’ guard went from doubling Embiid, then back to Maxey when he got the ball outside the three-point arc, then back to Embiid. That led to an easy one-handed pass from Embiid back to the open Maxey, who buried his first three-pointer of the night as part of a 10-point, purposefully aggressive first quarter. Taurean Prince attempted to leave Tobias Harris near the top of the key on those doubles, but could not really contest the shot.

This play began with a Maxey pass to Nicolas Batum near the top of the key, who then dropped a bounce pass to Embiid at the free-throw line. Maxey, meanwhile, looped across the lane, set a screen on LeBron James, then moved back toward the right wing. Maxey then used a screen from Embiid that created space, received the underhand pass, and pulled up after taking one dribble to get from the top of the key to the left wing. Credit to Batum (who got in front of Christie on the right side following his pass) and Harris (who moved from one corner to the other), for initially helping free up Maxey to get the ball back.

“When he’s handling or when he has the ball, hats off to him,” Maxey said of Embiid. “He’s been on me to be aggressive, and he’s helped me a lot. He’s setting screens and he’s really looking for me. … [There’s] just a lot of things we can do off that, and that comes with a lot of repetition, a lot of practice, a lot of film.”

Arguably Embiid’s flashiest assist of the night. The possession was initiated by Patrick Beverley, who got the ball to Maxey well outside the three-point arc. Embiid received a quick pass on the right side, dropped the ball in between his legs, and got in front of Prince to get Maxey an open jumper from the right side.

After Maxey received a handoff from Embiid near the top, he dribbled around the screen to his left and slung the ball to the opposite side to Marcus Morris Sr. outside the three-point arc. Morris dribbled between his legs, then got the ball back to Embiid at the elbow. Embiid then handed it back to Morris and screened, providing Morris with the room to take a pull-up elbow jumper as part of his efficient 11-point first half.

Another easy Maxey-Embiid connection. After Maxey bounced a pass to Embiid near the top of the key, he got himself and Christie in between Embiid and defender Anthony Davis. Embiid took two dribbles to the left, and when Christie barely drifted over to Embiid and Davis stepped back, that freed up Embiid’s pass to Maxey for the open three from the right wing.

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Harris was involved at the beginning of this play, taking the ball from Maxey and then swiftly getting it to Embiid. The big man passed back to Maxey at the right wing, then set the screen. And then it was deja vu, as Maxey shot behind Embiid, who dumped the ball between his legs for Maxey to take the step-back jumper. That put Maxey at 20 first-half points.

On a longer-developing play, Maxey, Melton and Harris all touched the ball on handoffs along the perimeter before continuing to move. Embiid wound up with the ball at the top with seven seconds on the shot clock, before drifting to his left and zipping a pass to Harris in the corner. Harris then navigated through two defenders back into the lane for the shot high off the glass. A cut by Robert Covington, and Embiid’s body, helped create the path to the basket.

With the ball at the top, Embiid called Harris over from the left corner to come back to the ball. Embiid and his teammates then cleared out for Harris to take an off-the-dribble baseline jumper over D’Angelo Russell. Embiid’s dish drew Davis to try to double Harris, who moved away from the help to hit the shot.

Embiid pulled down the rebound and brought the ball up himself. Then it was an easy pitch and catch to De’Anthony Melton for the left-wing three-pointer, after Prince considered going to double the MVP and left Melton wide open.

“[We are] just finding our spots,” Melton said. “You’ve got to give credit to him passing the ball and just being willing to trust those types of shots. I think it’s a credit to both sides.”

Embiid again brought the ball up himself for the second consecutive possession — and it yielded the same result. Russell had his eyes on Embiid and was not close enough to Melton, who banged home his second deep shot from the left wing in 30 seconds of game clock.

“I’d get an outlet and I’d give it to him, and we’d all just run ‘four flat’ [straight down the court],” Maxey said “… It’s hard to guard him one-on-one. When they help, he’s finding the open guys on time, on target. And when he does that, we’re hard to guard, because we have guys who can knock down shots.”

Embiid again brought the ball up the court, and spun on Davis as he entered the lane. Batum, who had been in the right corner, cut behind Prince as he moved to double Embiid. The big man zipped an easy pass to Batum for the two-handed dunk, with nobody near him or the rim. Suddenly, Embiid had 11 assists less than four minutes into the third quarter, to five different teammates.