PHILADELPHIA — There won’t be any grand celebrations and chest-thumping for the Philadelphia 76ers' latest win over the Detroit Pistons. Joel Embiid was able to lead the Sixers to a big enough lead that he once again sat out the entire fourth quarter. But for Nick Nurse, there is one aspect of his performance that he was very encouraged by.

Asked what he thought about Embiid's latest stat-stuffing performance — 35 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, two steals — Nurse pointed out what he did well on both sides of the floor. He made sure to note that the way he played defensively was the expectation for him each and every night.

“He's again, continuing to be super aggressive. I think he's continuing to get the ball in areas where he feels really comfortable, putting pressure on, making them guard him on the drives and at the basket, getting to the free-throw line quite a bit.

“I thought there was a step forward defensively tonight,” the Sixers' head coach continued. “I thought he made a lot of plays, changed a lot of shots, took a swing and a few more shots, made 'em miss — even the ones he didn't, didn't get a hand on or a finger on or whatever. But I thought he was pretty active defensively tonight.”

Embiid tallied four blocks and two steals in the Sixers' win, marking just the third time so far this season he has totaled six “stocks” in a single game. When engaged, there are fewer players who can alter a team's shot diet like him. Nurse wants to better showcase his skill to make Philly a top-notch defensive unit, which it has not been so far this season.

Entering his first season working with Embiid, one of the Nurse's biggest points of emphasis was making his rim protection the focal point of his individual defense and the Sixers' defensive identity. He implored Embiid to “take more swings” at the ball.

“I think he did it earlier in the season more than he was doing it maybe in the past six or eight games, 10 games, whatever. And tonight he did it a little bit more,” Nurse said. “I mean, I think we're gonna continue to ask him to do that more. We're gonna continue to try to funnel more people to him and let him use that rim protection that he has. But I think we got a ways to go on where I think that the ceiling on that could be.”

The Sixers rank eighth in defensive rating right now but much of that is thanks to their remarkably easy schedule as of late. Once they get back to playing good competition, Nick Nurse will ensure Joel Embiid retains this level of defensive impact.