Joel Embiid Praises Doc Rivers, Sixers For Success Being Short-handed

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed Joel Embiid back to the lineup on Monday leading to a 104-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Sixers have now won seven of their last nine games and they have begun to move forward despite dealing with a slew of injuries.

While Embiid missed only four games, the Sixers are still missing James Harden and Tyrese Maxey. In their place, Shake Milton and De’Anthony Melton have done a terrific job of filling in and providing good production out on the floor.

After the win on Monday, Embiid gave his thoughts on the team’s success while being short-handed and he gave a lot of credit to Doc Rivers and the coaching staff.

“It’s a testament to our coaching staff,” said Embiid. “Obviously, the players have been doing a great job. Gotta give a lot of credit to guys like Shake, Furk (Korkmaz), guys coming in that haven’t gotten minutes all season and they’re just coming in. I’m just proud of them because they’re ready. You could tell that they were waiting for this moment for their name to be called. So, I’m just proud.”

The Sixers are now sitting at 12-9 on the season and they are beginning to look like the team that many thought they would be after the offseason moves they made. The injuries have forced them to come together and have forced them to make some changes, but these are moments that will help shape them.

“Obviously, injuries happened and we had to make a lot a lot of adjustments, whether it was me becoming more of a playmaker and then we also got some guys that can handle and score the ball in Tobias (Harris), Shake, Tyrese before he got hurt, Furk,” Embiid added. “So I think it’s all about just us playing together. Coaching staff, coach Doc and his staff, they’ve been getting everybody ready just to make sure that we come in and we do everything possible to win these games.”

The Sixers will now hit the road again for a 3-game trip starting on Wednesday when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers.