The on-court return of Joel Embiid was a sight for sore eyes for Philadelphia 76ers fans, as the former league MVP hasn’t played a single game for nearly eight months.
In his comeback, Embiid recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and three steals on 5-for-10 shooting from the field in 19 minutes. With his help, the Philadelphia 76ers won 126-110 against the Minnesota Timberwolves yesterday.
“I feel pretty good. Obviously, this is more of a learning process. Just getting back, seeing everything, obviously, feeling good on the court, and then how the body reacts. We’re gonna learn as we go. As every game comes by so we’ll see how it feels tomorrow, but it’s been mentioned so many times. They’re gonna take that slow approach, so, yeah, but I’m gonna do whatever they tell me to do,” Embiid said via Ky Carlin of the Sixers Wire.
“First of all, I’m just happy to touch a basketball and be able to play basketball and do what I love. When you don’t get that, it’s tough, but that’s what I’m most happy about. Tonight, that’s all I kept thinking about. I’m on the court playing basketball, doing some good things, helping us win, and that’s really what I was focusing on,” he added.
Philadelphia 76ers News: Nick Nurse evaluates Joel Embiid’s preseason performance
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse praised Joel Embiid’s resilience in the past few months, and he even pointed out that the 31-year-old center looks leaner than before.
“Pretty good,” Nurse said about Embiid via ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I thought he moved good, played good, shot it good, passed it good… I didn’t see too many negatives out there.”
Besides Embiid, Quentin Grimes also made his preseason debut against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Philadelphia 76ers swingman had 22 points, five assists, three steals, and four three-pointers on 7-for-13 shooting from the field in 26 minutes off the bench.
