With a smile, Joel Embiid finally finds his way to a dunk
It was one of the easiest dunks of his career. There are seconds left to play in Madison Square Garden, with the game already won by the Sixerswhen he served VJ Edgecombe Joel Embiid under the circle for a smooth finish without clashing.
Celebrated as it should be with several members of the bench, including Andre Drummond and Kyle Lowry, the gesture has the value of a small event: it was his first dunk of the seasoncarried out in its place” favorite in the world » where he hasn’t played since Game 5 of the first round of the 2024 playoffs, which they lost to the Sixers.
« It was nothing special. It was easy. I wish the dunk was after the jump shot. This is the next step », fixes the pivot, who tried “T-Mac” against the Grizzlies earlier this week.
As VJ Edgecombe calms him down after seeing him get up “ a little » according to the circle, Tyrese McKay does not hide his enthusiasm: I was so happy. So now it’s my fault because I passed him in the previous action thinking he wasn’t going to dunk. Now he tells me that I send him a lot. So I’m going to send him a pass, and we’ll see what happens. »
« You saw that he wanted to wear it. I think this was a pretty easy way to do it. But at least we know he can still dunk, and he can cross that off his bucket list », smiles Nick Nurse. So many reactions that speak volumes for the good vibes in the Sixers.
The Sixers are getting closer to the Top 4
The men from Philadelphia are delighted that their staff, the author of 26 points (9/15 on shots), 10 rebounds and 5 assists, has returned. So is their team (19 wins-14 losses) that has its third straight win (all on the road) and is in 5th place in the East, after falling to 10th in late November. The Sixers are now only “half a game” behind the Raptors (21v-15d), currently fourth.
« The biggest difference is that we collectively feel better. We have confidence in the established process. And I think that with a year of experience you naturally gain camaraderie and you can feel it. We can say that everyone in this dressing room is starting to enjoy the game, to enjoy the field, to play on both sides. We are connecting », observes Paul George.
Not spared from injuries, the latter drives the train, which since the beginning of the season has been driven by the Maxi-Edgcombe couple, in motion. He is only the 5th leading scorer on his team with an average of 16 points.
But it doesn’t matter if the team turns around well before January, which could confirm the current dynamic: The Sixers play 11 of their next 15 games at home.
« We still have a long way to go. We were coming from far away and had to get out. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of fitness, rhythm, health can still improve a bit, and we continue to build on that », takes aim at Nick Nurse who, with the exception of Kelly Oubre Jr, finally has all of his main elements.
2026-01-04 07:26:00
