Joel Embiid Assesses State of 76ers After Win vs. Raptors

Joel Embiid is happy with the 76ers' recent win streak, but notes there's always work to do.

Doc Rivers urged everybody to focus on the positives after the Philadelphia 76ers’ Monday night win over the Toronto Raptors. Although the Sixers led by as many as 14 points against a struggling and undermanned Raptors team, Rivers loved the way his team fought back after trailing by seven points down the stretch of the matchup and winning in overtime.

“We should focus on the positive stuff,” said Rivers when asked if he was concerned about how his team won the game. “Like, our guys fought, we didn’t have it, we missed wide-open shots tonight. Wide open shots.. When you do that, the other team is probably at some point going to make a run. A lot of teams, when they make a run, go the other way. We just hung in there. They got a lead on us. How about talking about us coming back? We actually were down by eight for a stretch. That, to me, should be celebrated.”

There’s no such thing as a bad win. On any given night, a team could win whether they are in a slump, undermanned, or simply having an off game. That’s precisely why Joel Embiid, Rivers, and the Sixers are far from panicked from the results of tough wins over the struggling Raptors and the undermanned Golden State Warriors.

“I mean, we got the win,” said Embiid. “So, even when it’s ugly, it still counts. We were up a lot the whole night. They made that run at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, but we reacted. That’s what we’ve been working on — to stay calm and just keep playing.”

Embiid mentioned the Golden State game, noting the fact they made an early run on the Sixers last Friday night. Instead of panicking and struggling to battle back, the Sixers understood that hot shooters could cool down. The Warriors did, and the Sixers took advantage. 

While the Sixers were the team that was off to a better start on Monday before losing their lead, they didn’t allow a late-game comeback to knock them out of focus. In the end, the Sixers escaped Monday’s game with a 104-101 win. Both games have positives and negatives to take away, and Embiid sees there is room for improvement for his squad. 

“We know it’s not just about the last two performances,” Embiid said. “Even during this win streak, we can still be much better as a team. I think we were playing great tonight. Offensively, we had a couple of great stretches, defensively, I thought we were pretty good, but we know where we want to end up, so we can never be satisfied with those types of results. I think we are getting better every single day. We’re not perfect at every single night it’s not going to be perfect, but as long as you know we have the mentality of wanting to learn and wanting to get better, I think that’s what matters.” 

The Sixers are on a season-best five-game win streak at the moment. On Wednesday, they’ll continue a seven-game homestand with a matchup against the Detroit Pistons. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.