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Joel Embiid had a rare off night in Sacramento, shooting 6-for-15 from the field (0-for-2 from three) but as Doc Rivers said before the game, he isn’t worried about the big man taking jump shots as some critics are.
Rivers believes those kind of looks make defenses play Embiid differently and they set up other parts of his game.
Embiid is having his best campaign from behind the arc, shooting 39.0% on 3.1 attempts per game.
More From Philadelphia
- The Sixers are now 14-0 this season when their starting five play after the win over the Kings. This year’s team is very much reminiscent of the squad two years ago where the Ben Simmons-J.J. Redick-Jimmy Butler-Tobias Harris-Embiid group dominated in limited time. The difference between that season and this one is that Philadelphia has a much more talented bench unit, something that gives them a real shot to advance further than the second round of the playoffs.
- Embiid is squarely in the conversation for MVP but Simmons might have a stronger hold on the Defensive Player of the Year race, especially given how the team performs when the LSU star is off the court. “That’s the point I try to make to you guys when we start talking about Ben not taking threes,” Rivers said last week after the loss to Portland. “And I keep trying to tell everyone Ben’s value is so much more than what you guys are talking about…He spearheads our defense.”
