WASHINGTON, D.C. — Joel Embiid wore his typical #21 for the Philadelphia 76ers as he led them to a close win over the Washington Wizards with a 50-point game. But it would have been more appropriate for him to wear a big red “S” with the way he saved the day for the Sixers.

The bad guy tormenting the Sixers was their own poor performance against a bad Wizards team. Their defense was pitiful and their offense sputtered, unable to hit a triple in their first 12 tries. The best plan was to get it to Embiid and let him go to work against the Washington defenders who were unequipped to keep up with him.

Embiid shot 19-29 from the field and added 13 rebounds, seven assists, a block and a steal to his final stat line. Save for his six turnovers, the Sixers superstar did whatever he wanted. In doing so, he paved the way for his team to come out on top.

“Just being aggressive — and it was needed because they started the game, they made a lot of shots and obviously, our shots wasn’t falling from three,” Embiid said of what worked for him in this game. “But sometimes your team needs you to playmake, sometimes they need you to score. I felt like tonight, that was one of those nights where really had to be aggressive and get it going. They made passes, they made the right plays every single time and I just finished.”

For as good as Joel Embiid was, the rest of the Sixers were highly suspect. Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. were huge in the second half and De'Anthony Melton had a nice showing but the defense from the entire team was way off-kilter. Their rotations looked as discombobulated as ever, their transition defense was left at home and the Wizards cleared out defenders with screens like they were paper bags in the wind.

“I'm pissed off but then again, the way I see it is, this is our first game,” Embiid said of the Sixers' defense. “This is a brand-new team. First game altogether, all healthy with the new guys and Kelly [Oubre Jr.] coming back. So I felt like the rhythm just wasn't there defensively. we just weren't connected together. And then offensively the spacing was a little messed up. But we're gonna be better. Like I said, it's our first game all together, so we definitely gonna play better.”

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse also acknowledged that his team did not defend very well. Having a fully healthy roster (though with Oubre on a minute limit) led to some new rotation patterns, forcing guys to get used to playing in different spots and in different lineups. That’s still not a good reason to suggest why this Wizards team and their below-average offense caused so many problems. Nonetheless, they did. And Embiid was there to clean up the mess.

“Well, obviously he was carrying us at the offensive end,” Nurse said. “He was doing it in a lot of ways and it felt like if we could play some sort of defense, we had an offensive place to go…Obviously, we needed all those from Joel tonight.”

Embiid's teammates agree that it was a somewhat nonchalant 50-point game for the big man.

“He should've had 60,” joked Tyrese Maxey. “I just feel like he wasn't dominant enough. So, maybe he should have had 60.”

“It was a quiet 50,” said De'Anthony Melton. “I felt like he was just going out there, effortlessly just shooting the ball and scoring.”

For Joel Embiid, this is his sixth career 50-burger, the second-most assists he has ever recorded in a 50-point performance and another instance among a countless assortment of them that proves he is capable of carrying an enormous weight for the Sixers.