Joel Embiid's Reaction to Poster Dunk vs. Cavaliers

When the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, Sixers center Joel Embiid looked forward to a tough matchup against the thriving

When the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night, Sixers center Joel Embiid looked forward to a tough matchup against the thriving young center, Jarrett Allen.

As both bigs battled it out, they got physical down low often. And at one point late in the second quarter, Allen issued a hard foul against Embiid.

After making contact with Embiid, the Sixers star grabbed at his lower back and was clearly dealing with a little bit of pain. Embiid managed to stay on the court and went to the foul line to put up his two free throws. He drained the first, but the second was unsuccessful.

At first, Cleveland had possession, but Sixers forward Georges Niang found a way to get the ball back for the Sixers right away. He turned around and found an open Embiid standing at the charity stripe still. Once Embiid got a hold of the ball, he took the bottled-up frustration from the hard foul he drew the moment before and threw down an explosive dunk, putting Jarrett Allen on a poster.

JOEL EMBIID DUNK OF THE YEAR, NO QUESTIONS ASKED | @Wendys pic.twitter.com/KkcY6abCMu

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 13, 2022

“It’s up there,” Embiid said when asked where he would rank that dunk out of all of the attempts in his career. “I’ve always dreamed about watching Blake (Griffin) throwing the ball in the rim without even touching the rim. Back in the day, the Lob City I always thought that was extremely exciting. You know, I’ve always wished that I could do it. But obviously, they jump way higher than me, I saw the video, and it was crazy. It was cool that I was finally able to make my dreams come true.”

Embiid’s poster dunk was one of many memorable moments from the All-Star big man from Friday night’s game. In addition to his major highlight, Embiid wrapped the game up with a game-high of 40 points, 14 rebounds, and ten assists, securing the triple-double.

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