Joel Embiid rejects the opinion that anyone on Art Sixers“The star cast must sacrifice the team to achieve the set goals, Chris Rome writes for ESPN.com.
“I am against the concept of victimhood” Embiid said after Friday’s preseason finale.”I think I explained that you do what you do best and we are going to support you. … I don’t think anyone should be sidelined.”
After struggling in his preseason debut against Brooklyn, the 7’0″ center from Cameroon played much better against Boston on Friday, posting 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes. However, Philadelphia ended up losing the exhibition contest as the Celtics rested several regulars in their rotation.
“We are not where we want to be yet“, Jaylen Brown said. “So that’s just part of it. It’s part of the reunion, a new group with a bunch of guys, a different style, but we just have to get better every day.”
Here’s more on the 76ers, who will face the Knicks on Tuesday in the regular season opener:
- Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports shares his thoughts from Friday’s preseason finale, noting that the two-man game between Embiid and Tyrese Maxey looked sharp in their final tune-up before the regular season. LeBron James largely echoed Brown’s sentiments that the team continues to improve over time. “We still have a couple of weeks. We’re still working on our rhythm, working out our kinks, and it’s not going to be perfect. But we have things we can lean on. We did a lot of good things tonightJames said after the game.We’re getting better and better every day, so we just have to keep working at it.”
- Sophomore guard VJ Edgecombe was ruled out of Friday’s contest after waking up in pain, but he was fully involved in Sunday’s practice and heading into Tuesday’s game, head coach Nick Nurse told reporters, including Rome (Link to Twitter).
- Forward Dean Wade sprained his left ankle in the first half of Friday’s game and did not return, according to Neubeck. “Not a major problem, but just being careful because it’s a preseason game” Nurse said after the game. And Wade, and Dominic Barlow (back pain) sat out Sunday’s practice, tweets PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck.
