Joel Embiid had all the bulletin board materials he needed.
He went on to heart the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 46 points, collecting nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists in the Warriors’ 120-112 win over the Sixers Friday night at Chase Center.
Warriors forward Draymond Green told reporters after the game that Embiid was very excited about the game because of comments Green made about fellow NBA player Nikola Jokic.
“He said, ‘You know why I played that way tonight?’” Green said, quoting Embiid. “You said Jokic was the hardest player to guard in the league.
After confronting Embiid, Green has since changed his mind.
“So I want to tell you all, Joel is the hardest hitting player in the league,” Green said with a laugh.
The warriors did everything they could to stop Embiid, but without much success. However, Green believes that the pressure that Golden State’s defense placed on the 7-foot center throughout the game finally resulted in a few wasted baskets at the end of the game.
“You just don’t want to go on a crash diet,” Green said. “That fourth quarter we just tried to take a different look at it, we shot twice, we sent double teams in from the top of the ground, we sent out double teams from bottom of the ground. 3-point line once we set the double team, the coach gave us the free will to fake a few hits and drop back.” And try to keep it off balance.
“[Kevon Looney] He did an incredible job all night just fighting it. That being said, he finished with 46 points, but the way Lun fought and kept a body on him all night hopefully wore him down. Some of those shots he’s been making all game, during the last six minutes of the fourth quarter he missed a few. You just have to trust your defense and trust your operation and we’ve done a good job with that. “
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Although Embiid put up amazing numbers against Golden State, further solidifying his MVP nomination, the Green and the Warriors pulled off a big win over the Sixers.
Unfortunately for Green, he will now be facing the league’s second strongest guard when the Warriors face Joki and the Denver Nuggets for the last time on April 4 at Ball Arena.
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