“Joel Embiid is establishing that he’s the biggest and baddest on the floor”: Doc Rivers reveals the Philly big man’s mentality amid an MVP campaign as the Sixers win 6 games in a row

Amid the 76ers’ recent success, Joel Embiid has played a huge factor in the team’s 6-game winning streak dropping 30-point games in all 6 contests.

After their shocking exit from the 2021 Playoffs, the Philadelphia 76ers entered this 2021-2022 campaign seeking revenge. And after his postseason debacle, Ben Simmons decided not to lace up for Philly, leaving the majority of the team’s load on Joel Embiid.

After struggling early on this season, averaging merely 23 points in the months of October and November, JoJo found his rhythm, playing basketball on a dominant level. Putting up 29.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 blocks, and 1.3 steals, the Cameroonian won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors for December.

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After grabbing a 119-100 win over the Spurs, the Sixers have now won their 6^th straight game, tying their season-best. And during the span of these 6 games, Embiid has gone on a scoring rampage, dropping 33.1/10.5/4.5, playing a huge role in the team’s recent success.

“Joel Embiid has been imposing his will more”: Danny Green

Amid his recent successes, coach Doc Rivers and Danny Green revealed what has been going well for the 7-foot big man.

“Joel is mixing it up,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I think the biggest change, he went through a stretch where he was taking a lot of jump shots and not a lot of power. I think he’s establishing that he’s the biggest and baddest on the floor, early. That sets up everything else.”

“He’s imposing his will more,” said Danny Green. “(Joel’s) figuring out the double teams, trusting and passing out of it, but also figuring out how to repost, get deeper seals, and make it harder for them to double team by making quick moves and catching the ball deep in the paint so it’s a longer run.”

“He’s doing a good job of passing out of it and trusting,” Green added. “They have to rotate and find shooters so keeping the defense honest and making it tough for other teams to figure out how to double team and try to guard the perimeter as well. He’s playing the game on both ends of the floor well, but he’s playing the game with the double teams extremely well, lately.”

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Behind Embiid’s incredible performance, the 76ers are placed 5th in the East with an impressive 22-16 record. Surely, the Sixers will aim to make a deep playoffs run this season.