Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid pleads for defensive gear in complete gem against Utah Jazz

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid said his dominating performance in a 131-123 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night was fueled by playing against Rudy Gobert.

Embiid, who had 40 points – including the game tied at 3 points with 6.5 seconds left with 19 rebounds, three assists, one steal and two blocks in 40 minutes – told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan in December that Gobert shouldn’t have been the third All-NBA team last season on him. He has also said on several occasions that he is keen to win the Defensive Player of the Year award – an award Gobert is preferred to win this season – and took issue with members of the local media saying he had ” scared ”of playing against the great man of Jazz after missing Philadelphia loss in Utah last month with a back injury.

“As we saw tonight, it seemed like I was very, very scared of him,” Embiid said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “So, yeah, keep talking.”

“But in going up against him, one of my goals is to be the defensive player of the year as well. So you know when you go up against that type of guy he’s a great player, and you know he does a lot for his team that doesn’t show up on the stats sheet … but when you go up against these guys you know it brings something else to my game.

“I want to dominate. On the offensive side, but mostly on the defensive side, because that’s the goal I set for myself at the start of the year … these are the clashes that you want to get out of and just dominate. and prove to everybody that as a team we have a great team, and individually you should be up there when it comes to these rankings and everything. “

Embiid was making the difference on both sides for Philadelphia. As the Jazz beat the Sixers 63-24 on the 3-point line, Embiid continued his season parade to the foul line – he took 13 himself, while the Jazz took 19 as a team, one of the many things that led. the expulsion of jazz star Donovan Mitchell and several Utah players criticizing officials after the game. Embiid was also all over the place defensively, repeatedly breaking lobs to Gobert at the edge and, on a play, stopping a Mitchell drive to immediately snap back and block a Gobert dunk attempt.

But for Embiid, the disrespect he got in the awards vote last season, after the Sixers left the playoffs in a first-round sweep from the Boston Celtics, has been a source of motivation that he has spoken publicly to return to the preseason.

However, he specifically pointed to Gobert as a source of frustration for being selected as the third All-NBA center for the third team ahead of him.

“I agree that Anthony Davis has had a better season than I have,” Embiid told MacMullan in December. “[Nikola] Jokic? It is debatable. But Rudy Gobert? No offense, but he [averaged] 15 [points] and 13 [rebounds] and I was 23 and 12, and that’s kind of a big difference. I think my numbers were better. But people didn’t want to vote for me because our team hadn’t done well.

“That’s okay, because I’m going to use it to motivate myself, so there’s no way anyone can make this mistake again.”

When asked after Wednesday’s game if that snub played a role in his performance, he didn’t try to hide it.

“It’s fair enough,” Embiid said. “But what drives me is to win the game. Without winning, you know, you’re not one of those conversations when it comes to Defensive Player of the Year and MVP and all that. the first thing. I want to win. That’s all that matters to me.

“The past is the past. It’s unfortunate the way things went last year when I wasn’t there … it plays a huge role in my mentality this year, I just want it all. destroy in my path. I play against a lot of great players every night. They are really good at what they do. But wherever I need to do the job, defensively and offensively, this is what I need to do . “

Embiid, who starts Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta, is enjoying what is easily the best season of his career, averaging 30.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He’s a top contender for the MVP award, as Philadelphia enters the All-Star Break half a game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets for the best Eastern Conference record.

But, after several games recently, Embiid has said on several occasions that he’s more interested in winning Defensive Player of the Year than MVP – although, to be fair, he won’t turn down that honor if he finishes. by arriving.

And while Embiid said on several occasions on Wednesday that teammate Ben Simmons deserved to be in the mix for the defensive award as well – speaking ahead of the game, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said he thought Simmons should be favored, ahead of Gobert, for this – Embiid said he’s focused on winning because he’s had that goal since entering the NBA.

“When I came into the league I never thought I would be so good offensively,” Embiid said. “I’ve always been focused on the defensive side, and that has always been my goal to win it. It would be nice to do that, but like I said, that’s my goal when entering the league, and obviously the on the scoring and offensive side, has taken over.

“I always come back to the same thing – you can’t participate in these conversations without winning. Right now we’re winning, we’re first in the East, we’ve beaten the best team in the league. group of great teammates doing a great job. [Sixers teammate Tobias Harris], that’s why I preach for him to be an All Star, because you watch nights like tonight he dominated overtime. And you know, as a team, we all play well together, we move the ball and we defend well. “