Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid clearly was not satisfied with his level of play against the Miami Heat.
The Philadelphia 76ers (41-34) fell short in a crucial game against the Miami Heat on Monday, 119-109.
The game remained close down to the final minutes, but the Heat were able to pull away. Despite finishing as the team's leading scorer with 26 points, superstar center Joel Embiid was greatly disappointed in his performance.
"I thought tonight we had stretches where we were pretty good, but then some were not. I was a big part of that. I gotta be better. So, yeah, I was terrible tonight," Embiid said, per Sixers Wire. "Just gotta be better."
Even for Embiid's standards, this was by no means a "terrible" game from the seven-time All-Star.
To go along with his 26 points, he recorded seven rebounds, three assists, and a block in 34 minutes of action. He shot 10 of 25 from the field and 2 of 6 from three-point range.
While these numbers are worse than those of previous games, it appears a sickness was influencing his level of play.
"Well, first, I wish I wasn't sick," Embiid shared. "So, maybe that would have helped to play better. So, physically, I just was not in it, and then secondly, obviously, if the first part was better, then I guess I would have had more energy to do all the things. So yeah, just gotta take off myself and get out of it and play better."
The blame should not fall on Embiid for this loss to the Heat.
Instead, much of the fanbase is calling out coach Nick Nurse for the defeat, claiming he was mismanaging lineups and simply outcoached by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
All things considered, Philadelphia's stars played quite well yet again. Tyrese Maxey finished with 23 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds, though he put up these statistics on inefficient shooting splits. Meanwhile, Paul George continues to impact games at a high level coming off his suspension, tallying 19 points and four rebounds on 38.9% shooting.
The 76ers return to action on Wednesday to face the Washington Wizards (17-58).
Join The 76ersRoundtable Community
Head over to the 76ersRoundtable page and hit the "Join" button under the featured story... it's completely FREE! You'll have the opportunity to engage with other 76ers fans who live and breathe the team, share your thoughts on the organization, and more. If you're asked to sign up or download the Roundtable app... that's free too.
Anthony Pasciolla is the publisher of 76ersRoundtable. He can be reached via email at ampasciolla@gmail.com or followed on X @AnthonyPasci.