Behind Embiid's 37, Sixers throttle Wolves

Sometimes it’s easy for teams to mail in the very next game after a thrilling victory over the defending champions. Mustering the same energy and fire can be difficult. There is often a come down after such an emotional high.

The Sixers were entirely unaffected by any letdown against the lowly Timberwolves in Minnesota on Friday night.

Coming off its inspiring take down of the Lakers on Wednesday night, Philadelphia found itself matched up with the worst team in the Western Conference by record. They did exactly what elite teams are supposed to do against that level of competition, pummeling Minnesota 118-94 to improve to 14-6 on the season. Tobias Harris was the only Sixer to eclipse 30 minutes of playing time, and he was the only member of the starting lineup to see any fourth quarter action.

That opening quintet saw strong contributions across the board. Harris collected his second double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Joel Embiid was utterly dominant once again, going for 37 and 11 and wrestling his way to 18 free throw attempts, converting 16. Over his last 10 games, Embiid is supplying an eye-popping 31.4 points and 10.5 boards in just 31.5 minutes per game, and he is feasting at the line in that span, averaging 12.7 free throw attempts.

The starting backcourt didn’t match those scintillating box score figures, but Ben Simmons and Seth Curry were both plenty effective. Simmons scored 11 points and added 7 assists against only one turnover. That last statistic continues an encouraging recent trend—after coughing the ball up at least five times in 4 straight contests, over his last six games, Simmons has averaged only 1.8 giveaways without sacrificing his playmaking instincts, with 7.8 dimes. Curry rebounded from back-to-back subpar games with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 beyond the arc. The only starter who failed to score in double figures was Danny Green with 3 points, but he was sturdy defensively, picking up two steals and a block.

The Sixers' bench was strong as well with 38 points. Shake Milton had a solid game with 13 points, breaking a string of 4 straight games scoring ten points or less. Matisse Thybulle only scored 2, but he continued to make defensive plays at a staggering rate, wrecking Minnesota’s offensive sets with 3 steals and 2 blocks. The 6’5” guard has steal and block rates of 3.7% and 3.3% for his career, respectively. For context, the active leader in steal rate among qualifying players (15000 career minutes) is Chris Paul with 3.2%, and Thybulle’s block rate would trail only 12 other active players, none shorter than 6’9”. Whatever offensive limitations the 23-yer-old has, he is a monster difference maker at the less glamorous end of the court.

Overall, the Sixers experienced a strong team performance. They only shot 44.8% from the field, but they were 50.0% from deep (8-of-16) and forced 18 Minnesota turnovers to just 10 of their own. They also owned the glass, outrebounding the Timberwolves 51-38.

Of course, this game always figured to be easier with Minnesota missing its star player. For the 14th time in 18 games, Karl-Anthony Towns did not play, as he has most recently been out due to health and safety protocols. Without the superstar center, the Timberwolves struggled to score all game shooting 42.7% collectively, and a mediocre 30.3% from deep.

Starting wings Malik Beasley and Anthony Edwards combined to produce 37 points, but they were both -25 on the evening. D’Angelo Russell once again struggled to do much of anything matched up against Simmons, going 3-of-11 from the floor for his 14 points. He only had four assists and failed to corral a single rebound. Ed Davis stood no chance against Embiid on the interior, recording as many fouls as shot attempts and points total (5) in his 23 minutes.

The first half of the game saw a relatively even playing field. Neither team held a lead of more than 7 points. After a pair of Russell free throws put Minnesota up 41-36, Philadelphia responded with a 13-3 run to move ahead 49-44. Both teams largely traded scores for the remainder of the period and at the break, the Sixers were ahead 53-48.

That trend continued over the opening few minutes of the third, with both teams riding the seesaw and scoring one after another. Embiid scored the first 8 points of the period for the Sixers and capped that stretch with a beauty of a drive and flush for two to put his team up 61-56. That dunk kicked off a 13-2 stretch over a 1:47 span that forced the Timberwolves to take a timeout.

It had no effect.

Minnesota simply could not contain the Sixers’ offense. By the end of the period, the Philadelphia advantage had ballooned to 88-74. Harris carried a bench mob all throughout the 4th. The Sixers at one point swelled the lead to as much as 26 before the final buzzer sounded.

The Sixers figure to face a stiffer challenge Sunday night at 7 p.m., when they head to Indiana to continue their stretch of 11 of 16 games on the road. The Pacers are off to a solid 11-8 start despite dealing with injuries to key wings Caris LeVert and TJ Warren. Domantas Sabonis has followed up last year’s All-Star campaign with an even better season thus far, averaging 20.5 points, 12.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists. He joins Malcolm Brogdon (22.7 points and 7.2 assists) as the head of the Indiana attack.