Joel Embiid did everything in his power to carry the Philadelphia 76ers to a win Sunday against the Utah Jazz — and that includes lying to the opponent.
Via Tim Bontemps of ESPN:
“Joel Embiid said he told Lauri Markkanen he had to put his son Arthur to sleep when he shot those free throws late in the first quarter, so he wanted him to miss to avoid overtime. Embiid admitted he lied – he said Arthur is in bed every night at 7:30pm sharp.”
Markannen went to the foul line with a little over 20 seconds left in regulation and the Jazz trailing by five points. He missed both attempts, thanks perhaps to Joel Embiid getting to his head.
Joel Embiid mopped the floor with the Jazz in that game. He posted an unbelievable stat line that's almost unheard of in the NBA. He finished the contest with 59 points on 19-of-28 shooting from the floor. Scoring buckets was far from the only contribution Joel Embid had to the Sixers. He also collected 11 rebounds, eight assists, seven blocks, and a steal — all in just 37 minutes. The Jazz had tried every tactic to stop Joel Embiid, but none seemed to work, with the Sixers superstar going 20-for-24 from the free-throw line.
Embiid scored 26 of his total points output in the fourth period. He was directly responsible for all but one point the Sixers mustered in the final quarter, with Danuel House Jr. as the only other Philly player notching a point during that frame.
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