PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers resumed their season with a bang. In a wild, comeback win over the Memphis Grizzlies, James Harden cooked and Joel Embiid made up for his awful shooting with one of his best defensive masterclasses ever. They're knocking on the door of the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, who they trail in the standings by only a few games.

Although the Sixers have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, there is lingering doubt about how good they really are. Most basketball fans see the Celtics or Bucks as the superior teams. Embiid isn't concerned about that outside noise.

“We're not worried about Boston or Milwaukee. We're worried about ourselves,” Embiid said. “We can get better every single night. We can take this experience that we had tonight and try to be better. As good as I would like to not be down 17 points every single time but it's also good to see that you got the quality and you got the right guys to be able to come back from those types of leads. You learn something from tonight and you move on. But as far as worrying about other teams, we don't. We just focus on ourselves.”

Embiid's mindset is perfect for the Sixers. The big fella is always vocal about the team's need to improve in all facets of the game, especially on defense. Philadelphia has the hardest remaining schedule and will face the Celtics and Bucks twice.

Although Joel Embiid and the Sixers are focusing on themselves first and foremost, they also know that facing the Celtics and Bucks means a lot. They will get their next crack at Boston, who they have yet to beat in two attempts this season, on Saturday in a nationally televised game.