Joel Embiid needed to be more aggressive and he showed it on Thursday night.
As the Philadelphia 76ers closed out the Boston Celtics 115-109 for Eastern Conference supremacy, Embiid's listened to Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley's advice and played dominant.
Embiid not only posted 38 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, he closed out the game for the Sixers with this game-sealing block on the Celtics' Daniel Theis.
Check out the clip for yourself:
JOEL EMBIID WITH THE GAME-DECIDING BLOCK! pic.twitter.com/unwK1c04Cm
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) December 13, 2019
Embiid's block was with such authority that he made the 6-foot-8 big man crash to the floor.
Following the Sixers' win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, the Hall-of-Fame big men and TNT analysts — Shaq and Barkley — remarked about how Embiid lacked aggression on the offensive end.
During the team's shootaround in preparation for their game versus the Celtics, Embiid agreed with the notion.
Via Keith Pompey of the Inquirer:
“I do think they’re right. I think I need to be more aggressive, just look to impose myself, look to dominate. I think the whole season I haven’t done that, and you can see the way it’s effecting my efficiency and my stats,” Embiid said to reporters in Boston, via Keith Pompey of The Inquirer. “I get what they’re saying, I think they’re right. I got to make a change.”
For at least one night, Embiid proved how aggressive he can get.
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