Joel Embiid did his greatest Ben Simmons impression.
Within the midst of a disastrous season, Embiid handed up a wide-open shot that might have given the Philadelphia 76ers the lead within the closing seconds of Tuesday’s 106-103 loss to the Raptors.
With the Sixers trailing, 105-103, and roughly 10 seconds remaining, Embiid was handed the ball by guard Tyrese Maxey on the prime of the important thing along with his toes set, absolutely ready to shoot a wide-open 3-pointer, however he as a substitute put the ball again on the ground and dribbled right into a flood of Toronto defenders.
Embiid seemed on the basket with no defender even within the image earlier than placing the ball on the ground, mishandling the ball as he dribbled between his legs close to the free-throw line, and Raptor guard Grady Dick took it away.
Dick would go to the free-throw line and make one among two, whereas Maxey missed a 26-foot game-tying 3-point try with 5.1 seconds remaining.
Embiid has been a sight for sore eyes in Philadelphia, as he’s performed in simply 17 of 53 video games for a group that got here into this season with championship aspirations.
Philadelphia (20-33) is presently the No. 11 seed within the Jap Convention whereas coping with mass accidents all through the roster.
Embiid, who as of Jan. 29 had missed 47 % of his profession video games (446 performed vs. 400 missed), performed within the Olympics for Staff USA regardless of many speculating he was a well being danger after taking part in in simply 39 video games the yr prior.
He adopted up an uneven 2023-24 season by not showing in a recreation till Nov. 12, when the 76ers had began 2-8.
If Embiid, 30, performs each recreation for the remainder of the common season, he would have performed in simply 44 video games this season.
He has by no means reached the 70-game plateau in his profession.
Embiid, like his former operating mate Simmons, was part of the “Trust the Process” period in Philadelphia, the place the 76ers entrance workplace tanked consecutive seasons whereas their two stars sat for a lot of the common season.
That lack of taking part in time could be an indication of issues to return, as Simmons has gone from celebrity to afterthought after being traded from the 76ers to the Nets, finally being lower from the group and signing with the Clippers on the buyout market.
Embiid and the 76ers are set to play the Nets within the second recreation of a back-to-back Wednesday, and though he isn’t listed on the harm report, he had beforehand mentioned he wouldn’t play in two straight video games for the remainder of his profession.
“If I had to guess, I would probably never play in back-to-backs the rest of my career,” Embiid mentioned previous to the beginning of this season, in response to ESPN.
