The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Memphis Grizzlies soundly, just as they were expected to do, in Joel Embiid's third game back from injury. Not only did they find the time to experiment with a two-center lineup featuring Embiid and Paul Reed but it was a tactic that crafted the big lead they retained throughout the second half.
Embiid tallied 30 points and 12 rebounds (and eight turnovers) in almost 23 minutes while Reed had six points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in 23 minutes on the dot. The 76ers centers only spent a few minutes on the court together. But they made the very most of it.
With 2:10 left on the clock at the end of the second quarter, Embiid subbed in and played alongside Reed. With the two centers sharing the court for the first time in a while, the 76ers went on a 12-4 run that featured 10 unanswered points to end the half. One of those Memphis points came on a free throw from a foul that occurred just before Embiid subbed in. Philly had been winning no matter what lineup played but the results from playing two centers at once were intriguing.
“It was good, especially defensively,” Embiid told reporters. “You add — especially as I get back into myself — another dude that can rebound the ball and play hard and get extra possessions. That always helps. And then on offense, I thought we were actually pretty fine with the spacing, so just need to keep working on it.”
Joel Embiid, Paul Reed play together in 76ers win over Grizzlies
According to Cleaning the Glass, Embiid and Reed played just seven possessions on the court together this season before tonight. Now, with another stint together under their belts, they can start getting some more genuine chemistry together in case it's a lineup that the Sixers will think of using in the playoffs.
After Trey Jemison used a power dribble to get through the Sixers' defense for an and-one layup, Embiid and Reed made it very tough for the Grizzlies to score. The former's size and mobility covered up paths to the rim while the latter's activity generated two steals on consecutive possessions. Philly went on to score each time down the floor.
The severely understaffed Grizzlies simply had no shot at getting a good shot with the paint so clogged. Rebounding was also a major issue, especially with uber-athletic wing Kelly Oubre Jr. there to help.
On offense, the Sixers ran sets for Embiid out of the left corner with Reed spaced out to the wing on the other side of the floor. Because BBall Paul is a much-improved three-point shooter, his defender (Brandon Clarke) couldn’t wander too far away. Coming into the season, the main concern over the lineup was how it would operate with a non-shooting big man next to Embiid. But because Reed has shown that he can shoot — 37.0 percent from deep on the season, albeit on a small volume — those issues are diminished.
Kyle Lowry set pin-down screens for Embiid that allowed him to get to his spot in the middle of the paint. The first one resulted in Embiid catching and firing (and swishing) from just in front of the foul line. The next time, when Lowry's defender was cheating into the space Embiid wanted to cut into, he set up behind the arc and canned a corner three.
Since the jumbo lineup was so good at creating turnovers, the 76ers only got two half-court possessions to see how the spacing worked. Still, suffering from success meant that the lineup was working really well.
Before the season, Nick Nurse said that he planned to deploy the Embiid-Reed lineup. He told reporters after the win in Memphis that he still wants to go it before the regular season ends.
“It was pretty good. I've been trying to get to it here for a little bit. Gave us a chance to look at it tonight,” Nurse said. “I think there is still some viability in it, said that at the beginning of the season. Haven't had a chance to use it, really, all season. But I think there's an option there and I'd like to continue to look at it.”
The 76ers' next game against the San Antonio Spurs will give them a solid chance to try it out again. Using two centers against Victor Wembanyama would be a good way to deter the rookie phenom's incredible height advantage and the mobility/dexterity with his body that makes him a fantastic vertical-spacing threat.
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