PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers made the most of Joel Embiid's return to play with a huge win over the Phoenix Suns. The Sixers' big man looked very promising in his 36 minutes of action after missing the last three games.

“I mean, I was okay. I didn't shoot well from the field — under 50 percent,” Embiid said after the Sixers' 100-88 win. “So, I just gotta get back to myself and be aggressive. As a team, I thought we missed a lot of easy shots and a lot of wide-open shots. But defensively we were pretty good.”

Embiid scored a game-high 33 points and added 10 rebounds and five assists to his stat line. He shot only 8-21 but converted all 16 of his free throws. On defense, Embiid made the most of his minutes by showing serious hustle on numerous plays. Philadelphia fed off his energy en route to an impressive defensive performance against one of the better teams in the NBA.

Although Embiid is finally back, he isn't his best self. Just a few days ago he struggled to get through a shootaround before the Sixers' last game. The progress is great to see but the big fella knows he has more work to do. “It's probably gonna take a while because it really hit me but I'm excited for the challenge…[My] body feels shut down. But I mean, there's no excuse. It's whatever. I'm playing basketball.”

Doc Rivers said after the game that he gave Embiid the go-ahead to request subbing out when he needed a breather. Paul Reed filled in for him, providing strong and energetic defense. The Sixers will need Embiid to be his best as James Harden recovers from a foot injury.

Joel Embiid said that the way to get himself back in tip-top shape is to just keep doing what he does: hoop. “Keep pushing every single day, try to do a little more,” the Sixers star said. “But one of the things with me as I've learned my body is that there's no better way for me to be myself and get back to myself than just playing basketball games. I just need to be playing every single night and I'm gonna get back to that level.”