Joel Embiid on What Sparked Dominant Performance vs. Lakers

Joel Embiid sent a message to critics and his teammates on Friday night.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid claims he’s heard a lot about his effort, play, and leadership from outsiders and possibly even some inside the organization as of late. 

As the All-Star big man is somebody who’s expected to lead by example in Philadelphia, considering he’s the team’s most prominent player, Philadelphia will only go as far as the big man takes them since he’s such an essential piece to what the team has built.

Embiid understands that much. Therefore, a big performance on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers was brewing, and that was apparent early on in the matchup.

Typically, Embiid plays around eight minutes in the first quarter. On Friday, Doc Rivers couldn’t take him off the floor, leaving the big man out for the entire first quarter.

Embiid went 8-9 from the field, knocking down two threes and going 2-2 from the free throw line. As the Sixers scored 31 points in the first quarter, Embiid was responsible for 20 of them.

After the game, the big man revealed that his early rally was him setting an example for those around him.

"Trying to send a message to my teammates,” said Embiid. “I often hear a lot about, I'm asked to be the best offensive player, the best defensive player, playmaking, leadership, there's a lot to deal with, but you know, I like the challenge.”

With all eyes on the Sixers Friday night as they faced LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Lakers on primetime, Embiid once again flashed a dominant performance. With high-percentage shooting from the field and a much better effort on the glass, Embiid wrapped up the matchup with a game-high of 38 points and secured the double-double with 12 rebounds.

“I often hear a lot about, if I'm not more than Joel Embiid, the rest of my teammates follow,” Embiid continued. “I’ve heard that quite a bit, so I just wanted to come out and really send a message to them and show them that here's me playing hard and obviously scoring the ball. Everybody also got to follow, and they did, so just got to do it every night."

Four members of the Sixers’ starting lineup scored double-digits on Friday night. While late-game turnovers nearly became the Sixers’ downfall on Friday night in a matchup that should’ve been a comfortable win, Philly managed to pick up their first win in four games by defeating the Lakers in overtime. 

Embiid and the Sixers still have a lot of work to do moving forward, but if the big man enters each game with the same motivation, they’ll be in much better shape moving forward. 

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