Joel Embiid shakes off rust with 21 points in Sixers’ 120-106 preseason win over Hawks

While Joel Embiid was sidelined because of an illness and “ramping up” his conditioning, his 76ers teammates showed promise in their free-flowing offense.

As much as folks praised new coach Nick Nurse’s scheme, they would not get a true glimpse of its impact until Embiid played in a game.

The moment of truth came Friday night in the Sixers’ preseason finale, a 120-106 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Center. And let’s just say seeing Embiid play this way will take some getting used to.

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The league MVP, a scoring champion in each of the last two seasons, appeared out of sorts early on. But his play progressed as the game went along.

Embiid finished with 21 points, five rebounds, two blocks, and an assist in 33 minutes, 10 seconds. He struggled from the field, making just 3 of 12 shots. However, he made up for that by hitting 14 of 15 free throws.

De’Anthony Melton led all scorers with 29 points, while Tyrese Maxey had 15 points and a game-high 12 assists.

Trae Young paced the Hawks with 19 points and 10 assists.

Following the game, the Sixers announced they waived two-way player Ricky Council IV and David Duke Jr.

Embiid was obviously rusty, missing shots he normally would make. But he was extremely unselfish, moving the ball. He also stretched the floor on some positions. And Embiid set screens and played solid defense.

“I think I’ve always wanted to play that way,” he said of sharing the ball. “I never liked just being an iso player. I don’t think that’s the right way to play, and I don’t think that’s the right way to win. So I like the system.

“Isn’t all about me, like today there were a couple of passes. Guys weren’t expecting it, and I’m telling them, I’m like, ‘When you cut, you got to cut hard. You got to cut to mean it. And you got to be ready to receive the ball.’”

But Embiid intends to continue to pass the ball all season. He wants to look for his teammates, play as a team and keep moving the ball.

“Hopefully,” he said, “that helps us win.”

It looks like James Harden may not help them win — at least not early on.

The disgruntled point guard remained away from the team. Harden, who has been a no-show all week, has missed all four preseason games. However, Furkan Korkmaz (left hamstring strain) made his first appearance of the preseason. And Danuel House Jr. (right knee tendinitis) was back after missing the last two games.

The 7-foot-2, 280-pound Embiid shared the ball quite a bit on offense. Defensively, he showed some versatility.

Embiid came out and aggressively defended Clint Capela in the perimeter during an early possession. He also ran out to disrupt wide-open, would-be shooters during a second-half possession. And he mostly positioned himself underneath the basket, protecting the rim.

“I tried to be aggressive,” Embiid said. “Since we’ve been here. Last year was actually our worst year and we still finished top 10 in defense. I’ve always believed that as long as I’m on the floor, we have a chance, especially defensively.

“So I just want to come in, and I think I’ve always done it, but I just want to stay consistent and not take any plays off. Every single possession’s got to matter. That’s my mindset. Every single game, trying to come in and be aggressive.”

The eighth-year veteran was named second-team All-Defensive in 2018, 2019, and 2021.

“I still think I’m really good, defensively,” said Embiid, who averaged 1.7 blocks over 394 career games. “But I think it’s really been forgotten. So I want to get back to that level to challenge for whatever, defensive player of the year or something like that.”

But Embiid was noticeably out of rhythm. He missed his four first-quarter shots — a 13-foot jumper, a 25-foot three-pointer, a 6-foot layup and a 7-foot jumper.

Playing the entire quarter, he finished with two points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

He checked back in with 5 minutes, 25 seconds left in the half. His second block on a Capela attempt came with 2:49 remaining. However, he missed two more easy attempts under the basket.

Embiid looked more in sync in the second half.

He made his first basket, a three-pointer, early in the third quarter. Playing the entire quarter, Embiid scored 11 points on 2-for-4 shooting. He made all six of his foul shots after being fouled on drives to the basket.

Harden remaining away from the Sixers wasn’t a surprise. As a result, the point guard has missed all four of the preseason games.

Nurse was asked if he’s at the point now going into Thursday’s season opener at Milwaukee that he’s preparing this team without Harden.

“I think I have been preparing for it all this week, for sure,” Nurse said. “I think that lots of thought has gone into him not playing and preparing the team for that this summer. I keep saying there is another plan if something changes, and I don’t think it has effected us very much at all.”

Korkmaz wasn’t focused on trying to show something in regard to skill set.

He’s aware that the team’s mentality and defensive philosophy changed a lot under new coach Nurse. So he was focused on just doing whatever Nurse asked of him while trying to stay within himself.

Korkmaz senses that his role under Nurse will be as a playmaker.

“He likes that passing, creating,” Korkmaz said. “So right now I’m getting a lot of guy vibes from them, from the coaching staff, like, ‘Be free. Be a playmaker.’ You can make good passes, good reads and create for my teammates. I think that’s crucial to hear from them.”

That’s what he’s determined to do this season.

Korkmaz scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter. He did that on 3-for-3 shooting after missing his three attempts in the first half. Korkmaz didn’t play in the third quarter.

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He also finished the game with two rebounds and two assists in 19:36.

Looking for teammates, Korkmaz passed up good shots for great ones.

Korkmaz has had varying roles during his first six seasons with the Sixers. He spent his first three seasons playing for Brett Brown. Under Brown, the 6-7, 201-pounder was known as a seldom-used sharpshooter in his first two seasons. However, he averaged career highs of 9.8 points and 21.7 minutes and shot a career-best 40% on three-pointers in his third season.

Under Doc Rivers the last three seasons, Korkmaz’s role slightly changed. Rivers wanted him to handle the ball, at times, to get teammates involved. However, he fell out of favor with Rivers due to his defensive shortcomings and saw his playing time diminish as last season went along.

Neither Council nor Dukes saw any action in Friday’s game.

Council was signed to a two-way contract after going undrafted out of Arkansas in June’s draft. Meanwhile, Duke signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the team this summer. The former Brooklyn Net was a long shot to make the team’s 15-man, opening-day standard contract roster.

The Sixers’ roster now stands at 19 players. They have 17 players with standard contracts and two two-way players. The Sixers must cut two more players by 5 p.m. Monday. They have one two-way spot available.