The Philadelphia 76ers were unhappy on Thursday after another disappointing defeat, this one at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
Philly is now falling further away from .500 and have a 5-7 record.
Things have been up-and-down since the start of the season for the 76ers, which is not what was promised to fans.
The promise was that this was going to be the team’s best year yet and their greatest chance of making the Finals.
So far, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Joel Embiid didn’t love that he was taken out of the game with four fouls in the third, which largely coincided with the Hawks’ ultimately insurmountable run
More on Thursday’s loss in Atlanta here https://t.co/rnqLgKT8iD pic.twitter.com/cK92h5pOnP
— Gina Mizell (@ginamizell) November 11, 2022
The 76ers were keeping up with the Hawks on Thursday but then Joel Embiid was benched following his fifth personal foul.
That choice by head coach Doc Rivers was not well received by the fans at home and in the stands.
It was also not well received by Embiid himself.
Following the game, he opened up about missing out on that pivotal stretch of the game.
“I think I’m smart enough to not foul,” Embiid told reporters.
He continued, “But I thought that’s probably when the game changed. They went on that run, and we could never get it back.”
He concluded with a polite but biting comment: “I trust whatever my teammates and my coaches say. Tonight, it just happened to be, at the time, probably the wrong decision.”
Embiid In Need
Losing Embiid in a game is never good.
But it’s even worse when the match is so close and the opponent, in this case, the Hawks, are known for getting hot and not slowing down.
Embiid wants to play but he is so important to the team that Rivers felt he didn’t have a choice but to bench him.
Rivers would rather bench Embiid than lose him because of fouls.
However, if the rest of the team can’t pick it up when Embiid is gone, this will only end in defeat.
That’s what happened on Thursday and Embiid is understandably feeling sour about it.
NEXT: 2 Things Going Wrong for the 76ers So Far