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Speaker 4: Sixers and sixty.
Speaker 3: The seventy six Ers Insiders podcast live from the Center
Speaker 3: in Philadelphia. Matt Murphy joined now by Larn Rosen, speaking
Speaker 3: ahead of the Sixers thunder game and Lauren what is
Speaker 3: going on on the court right now as we speak.
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, Matt, I think we got to
Speaker 2: set the scene.
Speaker 4: A little bit visually. Play by play.
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid getting loose still at the time of this broadcast.
Speaker 2: Questionable tonight versus Oklahoma City, but it's his It would
Speaker 2: be his first game since January thirtieth, when he had
Speaker 2: that left niemniscus surgery shortly after rather January thirtieth, but
Speaker 2: a lot of people in this building and in and
Speaker 2: around Philadelphia hungry to see this return. Campaign this morning
Speaker 2: talking about how hungry the team is to see this return, Matt,
Speaker 2: I know you and I are excited to see this return.
Speaker 2: So whether or not that news drops in the next
Speaker 2: few minutes, he's well on his way to a return.
Speaker 2: And the site we're seeing right now is just such
Speaker 2: a welcome one to anyone that's loved Joelle, loved the Sixers,
Speaker 2: or loved the game of basketball.
Speaker 3: He was just taking some straightaway three pointers now, stretching
Speaker 3: out at mid court. When he came out, you might
Speaker 3: have still been back of house, but he was getting
Speaker 3: some MVP chants from the fans as they file in.
Speaker 3: At that point, it was still forty five fifty minutes
Speaker 3: fill up on the warm up clock here in Philly,
Speaker 3: but just a jolt of energy surrounding a team that
Speaker 3: has been without the MVP for two months now, two
Speaker 3: months and it's hard to believe that he was averaging
Speaker 3: thirty five point three points per game, eleven point three rebounds,
Speaker 3: five point seven assists, and that he hasn't played with
Speaker 3: a few of these new Sixers. It's a new ish group.
Speaker 3: Was that one of your takeaways from Coach Nurse pregame?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And just catching up with some of the guys
Speaker 2: in the locker room pregame, Buddy healed. One of those
Speaker 2: guys among Campaign and Kyle Lowry as well, who have
Speaker 2: not played with Joelle in competitive action thus far, again
Speaker 2: the trade deadline, Kyle Lowry coming in as a buyout guy.
Speaker 2: None of them were on the team when Joel played
Speaker 2: his last minutes in January. Buddy said, he's excited to
Speaker 2: get those reps. I think a lot of Sixers fans
Speaker 2: and seventy six Ers alike are sort of salivating at
Speaker 2: the idea of a Joel MB Buddy healed, pairing similarly
Speaker 2: with Kyle Lowry, Joel sort of has this illustrious history
Speaker 2: of building chemistry with guards. Of course, Kyle and Buddy
Speaker 2: have two totally separate games. When you think back to
Speaker 2: the players that Joel has played so well with in
Speaker 2: the past, Seth Curry, JJ Reddick, they have a lot
Speaker 2: of the characteristics that Buddy Heeld has in his game.
Speaker 2: Buddy might be the best shooter of the three, So
Speaker 2: really looking forward to seeing exactly how that pairing looks.
Speaker 2: Nick Nurse talked about it pregame a huge part of
Speaker 2: what's going to happen in Joel's first game back, whether
Speaker 2: it's against the Oklahoma City Thunder or later on in
Speaker 2: the games ahead. One of the biggest things this team
Speaker 2: needs to do is learn to play with him, because
Speaker 2: they've learned a lot over the last two months. Nick
Speaker 2: Nurse notably talked about the defense and all the improvements
Speaker 2: they've made on that end in the absence of Joel,
Speaker 2: but now learning to play with the MBA, learning to
Speaker 2: play with someone that contributes thirty five points a night.
Speaker 2: They've missed those thirty five points.
Speaker 4: You and I talk about how many points.
Speaker 1: It's so many points.
Speaker 2: Tyrese Maxey said it post game, where were we.
Speaker 3: Lay scoring duo and they've been without it for most
Speaker 3: of the season, and it's interesting.
Speaker 2: I know that this sounds like I'm oversimplifying the game,
Speaker 2: and some people aren't gonna love this take map, but
Speaker 2: the way that I've conceptualized it throughout this last couple
Speaker 2: of months without Joelle, thirty five points is a ton
Speaker 2: of points, and anytime they lost by fewer than thirty
Speaker 2: five points, they did a pretty good job at what
Speaker 2: they needed to do.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So, when you're losing games against good teams by two,
Speaker 2: by three, by four, as this Sixers team has done,
Speaker 2: they've covered for thirty or so of Joel's points. Now,
Speaker 2: to get even part of those back as Joel continues
Speaker 2: to ramp up is gonna be just massive for this
Speaker 2: team that has made a lot of progress in his absence.
Speaker 4: With some of the new players.
Speaker 3: What's the first thing that they've told you and me
Speaker 3: in recent weeks about Joel Embiid returning to the practice floor.
Speaker 4: It's about the double.
Speaker 2: Teams right on a space that a guy like Tyrese
Speaker 2: Maxy who has been ruled out he's dealing with a
Speaker 2: hip situation. Over these last couple of games, tyres will
Speaker 2: not play against the Oklahoma City Thunders. I know you
Speaker 2: already mentioned, but even thinking about the way that Tyrese
Speaker 2: is gonna be freed up, he's been dealing with doubles.
Speaker 2: He's been blitzed constantly over these last couple of weeks,
Speaker 2: watching the two of them together in the early practice
Speaker 2: reps that Joel has had, Tyres is so happy to
Speaker 2: just have some space. He's so used to seeing at
Speaker 2: least one, if not two, bodies, and now sometimes he's
Speaker 2: not gonna see any because they're all worried about Joel
Speaker 2: embiid Right, So Tyrese is gonna get a ton of space.
Speaker 2: Buddy Heeld's gonna get a ton of space. Kyle Lowry's
Speaker 2: gonna get a ton of space, Tobias Harris, anyone that
Speaker 2: shares the court with Joel that's been out there over
Speaker 2: these last couple of months, being defended hard by good defenses,
Speaker 2: They're gonna have simply fewer people on their bodies at
Speaker 2: all times when Joel is on the floor. It's just
Speaker 2: such a luxury to have. We can't understate it. I
Speaker 2: feel like I'm oversimplifying, But when someone is that good
Speaker 2: and calls that much attention to himself, it is pretty simple.
Speaker 3: Again, we are overlooking the home court watching Joel mb
Speaker 3: go through his pregame warm up against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaker 3: He has played thirty four games this year. The first
Speaker 3: game the Sixers played without him was that Tyrese Maxi
Speaker 3: fifty one point game on February first, the first game
Speaker 3: they played without him because of the meniscus injury this season.
Speaker 3: He had missed a handful of games before that, but
Speaker 3: the team has been grinding ever since. Matt Murphy and
Speaker 3: Sixers team reporter Lauren Rosen with you here on Sixers
Speaker 3: in sixty. I think back to the Clippers road game,
Speaker 3: which was one of the impressive victories in Mbid's absence,
Speaker 3: and there was a question asked of Tyrese Maxi about
Speaker 3: consecutive three pointers during a winning time run and sequence,
Speaker 3: and he said, well, I had one guy on me,
Speaker 3: so when that happens without Mbid, I'm going to shoot it.
Speaker 3: And that has been rare without Joel Embiid, who just
Speaker 3: flung a shot over his head from mid court and
Speaker 3: sprinted into the locker room to an applause.
Speaker 4: He missed the shot.
Speaker 3: It hit the top of the backboard, but there was
Speaker 3: a high degree of difficulty on it from mid court.
Speaker 4: So the energy is building.
Speaker 3: Before this game against the Thunder and Lauren, the Sixers
Speaker 3: were just on a well they've been away from home
Speaker 3: for a lot of March. How was it to have
Speaker 3: Joel Embiid join the group on the most recent road trip.
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, it adds just, first of all, a
Speaker 2: ton of energy. It gives the guys hope that the
Speaker 2: light at the end of the tunnel has been turned on.
Speaker 2: Having Joel among them, having the MVP among you, It
Speaker 2: gives a gravity to any room that you're in, any
Speaker 2: busts that you're on, any playing that you're on. His
Speaker 2: presence is so notable, right and that's before he's even
Speaker 2: played a minute. So great to see him join the
Speaker 2: team again. For those that don't know, in Cleveland and Toronto,
Speaker 2: the most recent road trip that the Sixers had, he
Speaker 2: did not play, but he was able to practice. He
Speaker 2: was able to get in those much needed five on
Speaker 2: five reps that were a part of the progression back
Speaker 2: to playing in a competitive situation. So great to have
Speaker 2: him back, and the guys are energized by it. We've
Speaker 2: heard it all week long. It's just it's it's an
Speaker 2: anxious anticipation to use the words of campaign to get
Speaker 2: this all time great player back in the fold.
Speaker 3: You know who's back, Tom said, this is Sixers and
Speaker 3: sixty and this is great timing for the starting lineup
Speaker 3: for the Sixers to drop against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Speaker 3: It's Cameron Payne, Kyle Lowry, Tobias Harris, Kelly ou Bray
Speaker 3: junior end Joel the process. Embiid is available and starting
Speaker 3: his first game in more than two months comes against
Speaker 3: the Oklahoma City Thunder. There it is the big news
Speaker 3: that everyone had been waiting for.
Speaker 2: Absolutely massive stuff. You'd just love to see it. Joel
Speaker 2: Embiid the leading scorer in the NBA over these last
Speaker 2: couple of years. He and Tyrese Maxie were the leading
Speaker 2: scoring duo this year as recently as January thirtieth, when
Speaker 2: Joel last played. And if you're just catching up, you
Speaker 2: heard Matt say it. Now Tyres Maxie out versus the
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder, but Joel Embiid back in. So you'll
Speaker 2: have to wait for the reunion of your your favorite
Speaker 2: duo if you're a Sixers fan, but Tyres and Joel
Speaker 2: chopping it up in the locker room before this one.
Speaker 2: They've been each other's biggest supporters really over these last
Speaker 2: few years. It's been such a pleasure to watch them
Speaker 2: grow together. But Matt, I mean listen, I know some
Speaker 2: people are going to listen to this tomorrow on the
Speaker 2: seventy six Ers Insiders podcast and they will know what
Speaker 2: happened tonight. But I at this point am just so
Speaker 2: excited to see Joel back, to see him healthy. This
Speaker 2: is someone Matt, we almost don't talk about it enough
Speaker 2: who's really been through so much throughout the course of
Speaker 2: his career, culminating of course in his first MVP this season,
Speaker 2: hopefully culminating in what could be his first healthy playoff
Speaker 2: run as well. So really looking forward to seeing what
Speaker 2: these next couple weeks and months have to offer for
Speaker 2: the process.
Speaker 3: I'm just thinking about the five point seven assists per
Speaker 3: game and the fact that he did that without the
Speaker 3: three new players in Pain, Healed, and Lowry, who were
Speaker 3: all big parts of the team, making a franchise record
Speaker 3: twenty four three pointers, without the attention that Joel Embiid
Speaker 3: commands in the most re in game as we currently
Speaker 3: give our instant reaction to the Joe l Embiid return.
Speaker 6: One oh one ninety nine, Lowry across mid court, hands
Speaker 6: off to Ubre. They're gonna play middle pick and roll
Speaker 6: with a bad Ubre bounces to Joel Duell from fourteenth
Speaker 6: straight away.
Speaker 1: Fucking it's good tie game one on one, one on one.
Speaker 6: Josh getting guarded by him be head beat stole the ball,
Speaker 6: he drives Pulpgrin's back there and be goes up collision
Speaker 6: foul blocking call. Joel Ebiid stole the ball and drove
Speaker 6: three corners a length of the court and then collides
Speaker 6: with Check Holmgren and a blocking call on Holmgren.
Speaker 1: And we're joined by Cameron Payne. Cam.
Speaker 6: We're not as close as we were the other game,
Speaker 6: but wow, what a game. Uh unbelievable. Cali, Ubra and
Speaker 6: Joel help you guys to victory lane. But just your
Speaker 6: your experience playing for the first time with Joel and
Speaker 6: watching his presence and how he helped your team with
Speaker 6: everybody else, get you in the win.
Speaker 5: Com up and man MVP, that's what they call him.
Speaker 5: He makes the game easy for us. We can throw
Speaker 5: it into him. They gonna double. He generates open shots
Speaker 5: for us. What do you have eight assists.
Speaker 4: Seven assists.
Speaker 5: Man, that's another point guard on the floor. That's that's
Speaker 5: a big time help. He does an amazing job getting
Speaker 5: everybody involved. But he also does this thing too. That's
Speaker 5: a big time first game back for us.
Speaker 1: For sure.
Speaker 6: It's almost it was amazing really to watch how well
Speaker 6: he played. And he played almost thirty minutes. And you've
Speaker 6: been out there with a player like Joel or Joel
Speaker 6: and that is when you're driving. All of a sudden
Speaker 6: what might be you know, like a six foot runner
Speaker 6: and you're like, well, wait a minute, big guy lurking.
Speaker 6: That happened a lot. Yeah, you see where they during
Speaker 6: the corner, Like, huh, tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 6: When you see a player liking beat defending in the middle.
Speaker 5: No, it's huge for us. We get beat off the drive.
Speaker 5: That's something that I mean, Mobamba been there. But man, people,
Speaker 5: when people see him be, they might not take their
Speaker 5: lay up. He may keep dribbling, mashing it. It definitely
Speaker 5: helps our defense out where his presence down there.
Speaker 4: It's big Tom and the.
Speaker 6: End of the game, crowd on its feet, one possession
Speaker 6: game and it was what you compete for, right.
Speaker 1: It was like a playoff game out here tonight, Wasn't it?
Speaker 4: Absolutely? Man definitely had playoff vibs.
Speaker 5: But hey, I feel like it's gonna be like that
Speaker 5: every time you see twenty one out there. So man,
Speaker 5: hope that he stays healthy and hope that we can
Speaker 5: came out there.
Speaker 4: On the floor.
Speaker 1: Camp.
Speaker 4: Thanks, congrats, Thank you, man, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Cameron Paine.
Speaker 6: He had ten points and ten assists, No, ten rebounds
Speaker 6: and five assuits.
Speaker 3: Matt Murphy with Tom McGuinness the Sixers win. In em
Speaker 3: Beid's return, he gets twenty four points, six rebounds, seven assists,
Speaker 3: made all twelve of his free throws and some clutch
Speaker 3: ones down the stretch in the four point victory and
Speaker 3: Tom win aside and Beads return.
Speaker 4: How do you think it went?
Speaker 6: It went great. He was amazing, you know. I think
Speaker 6: there was maybe a couple of rusty spots as you
Speaker 6: could imagine, No doubt he was, you know, kind of
Speaker 6: at times gasping for breath. But there's no way to
Speaker 6: mimic the intensity of playing twenty nine minutes in an
Speaker 6: NBA game with a physicality, how much he gets pressured
Speaker 6: and doubled, you know, no matter how much he worked
Speaker 6: over the last few weeks to get here, right. I mean,
Speaker 6: he was just amazing and to make all the foul
Speaker 6: shots with the game on the line, to go twelve
Speaker 6: for twelve, just incredible, like in that sense. And guess
Speaker 6: what he's going to be ramping up during these games
Speaker 6: and getting better. Now, who knows what the plan is,
Speaker 6: you know, like would he play back to back? Probably
Speaker 6: not over the weekend, but when he play in the
Speaker 6: next game, it's it's Thursday. I don't know that they
Speaker 6: haven't made that known understandably so, but the point is
Speaker 6: he's going to get, you know, some of these games
Speaker 6: under his belt before the end of the regular season,
Speaker 6: and obviously you get Maxi back and you know it's
Speaker 6: going to take some time.
Speaker 1: But it's a whole new ballgame.
Speaker 6: I mean, like the coach, like coach said, we're not
Speaker 6: going from zero to one hundred in terms of he
Speaker 6: was asking how much Joell was gonna play, And like
Speaker 6: the Sixers, chances don't go from zero to one hundred,
Speaker 6: but they go from you know, zero to fifty. It
Speaker 6: looked like zero to sixty tonight, you know, just kind
Speaker 6: of making it up as we go along. But oh
Speaker 6: my gosh, like it just you look at how it
Speaker 6: went and you know the defense and just you know obviously,
Speaker 6: so it's going to be a work in progress here.
Speaker 6: But yeah, I mean, like you know, we've seen teams
Speaker 6: I e. Miami last year go from eight to you know,
Speaker 6: the conference championship, So we'll see. But it definitely changed
Speaker 6: it the dynamic. And Hope is alive, right.
Speaker 3: One oh nine, one oh five, Sixers beat the Thunder.
Speaker 3: Hope is absolutely alive and Beid comes back for the Sixers.
Speaker 3: Shake Gilders, Alexander and Jalen Williams did not play for them,
Speaker 3: but Tyreese Maxi did not play for the Sixers, and
Speaker 3: Bid did. It is a April second. He had did
Speaker 3: not play a game in February or March, which is
Speaker 3: a remarkable way to return tonight. The crowd was into
Speaker 3: it from the jump, and then Kelly Ubray Junior really
Speaker 3: energized them in the fourth quarter. I mentioned, no, Maxie,
Speaker 3: how have you seen just the adaptability of Kelly Ubra
Speaker 3: Junior to take on different roles this year? He scored
Speaker 3: seventeen of his game high twenty five in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure, And you know you heard what coach said,
Speaker 6: like they this is what I love about Nick Nurse too,
Speaker 6: Like he all of a sudden he started having Ubreak
Speaker 6: come off the DHO with Joelle. They were playing the
Speaker 6: pick and roll in the middle because, as he said,
Speaker 6: you know, Uber can turn the corner. And the more
Speaker 6: actions you have, the more playmakers you have. And with Embied,
Speaker 6: you've you've got a guy who can do it. Like
Speaker 6: they were asking about Buddy Healed and obviously you're gonna
Speaker 6: watch Kyle and he Maxie and he like that. You know,
Speaker 6: it's especially with Maxie and tonight, Ubra is an opposing
Speaker 6: team defensively, who you gonna guard, Well, you're gonna come.
Speaker 6: You're gonna get the guy coming off and leaving beat
Speaker 6: a little bit, you know. So that's that's where you
Speaker 6: put the pressure on the defense. And Ubra, like coach said,
Speaker 6: he kind of just rose up and started banging in threes.
Speaker 6: And you know some of them were well guarded. The
Speaker 6: one was for sure really contested. And you know he
Speaker 6: is he's been again, great start, almost like he had
Speaker 6: a chip on his shoulder in that he was signed
Speaker 6: just two weeks before the season, and then he gets
Speaker 6: hurt and he has a little bit of a dip
Speaker 6: and then you know, maybe not the best in the
Speaker 6: weeks thereafter, but boy, he's come back and he's been
Speaker 6: a pivotal player. And guess what if the Sixers postseason
Speaker 6: hopes are as we say, you know, Hope is a live,
Speaker 6: exciting whatever, He's gonna play a big part because he's
Speaker 6: been a terrific player for the Sixers, and not just offensively,
Speaker 6: but you know it's been a better rebounder than you
Speaker 6: would have expected. He's been tonight he was if Shay
Speaker 6: would have played, I think Kelly Uber was he was
Speaker 6: going to be assigned that matchup. So, uh yeah, the
Speaker 6: game lost a little bit of luster with those two
Speaker 6: guys not playing with the Tyres out, but obviously Joelle
Speaker 6: coming in, and I mean you felt it, Matt. It
Speaker 6: was an atmosphere here prior to the game when he
Speaker 6: came out. I don't know I gave you that little note.
Speaker 4: It was Willis Reid esque.
Speaker 6: Now, granted that was a championship game where a championship
Speaker 6: was won, but he literally came down the hallway. They
Speaker 6: showed him on the jumbo drown and it was like
Speaker 6: a cockering hero returning to the field of battle and
Speaker 6: he came out here and the crowd really loved it.
Speaker 6: It was it was a cool moment.
Speaker 3: And Embiid's record is good with the Sixers this year,
Speaker 3: so a lot of his teammates have good records when
Speaker 3: they're in the lineup with him, But Ubray and Embiid
Speaker 3: had some overlapping time out, so them together, they're twenty
Speaker 3: two and five Withubray and Embiid in the lineup together
Speaker 3: this season. And the Sixers beat the thunder tonight. What
Speaker 3: a game seventy six it was for the seventy six
Speaker 3: ers to beat Oklahoma City one oh nine, one oh five.
Speaker 3: There are six games left in the regular season for
Speaker 3: this group to gel together with Joel Embiid, and it
Speaker 3: starts again Thursday night against Miami.
Speaker 6: Well, and the other thing, I'll say, you know, like
Speaker 6: to me in a way, you wanted to get to
Speaker 6: that Miami game where and it could look yes, it's
Speaker 6: just it's a game. It's the potential of even in
Speaker 6: the series. And there's still going to be what five
Speaker 6: or six games after that, five more after that, yeah,
Speaker 6: five more after so it still could change. But again
Speaker 6: it's and then Indiana's slipping a little bit, but standing's
Speaker 6: you know, not you know, the absolute focal play. You
Speaker 6: want to prove that you can beat Miami. You want
Speaker 6: to go down there and prove you could beat them
Speaker 6: in their arena, which has always been tough, right.
Speaker 3: And if you did that, you would be the seventh seed.
Speaker 3: If it was the play in situation and the Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 3: the two seed just lost to the Wizards tonight, just
Speaker 3: throwing that out there.
Speaker 4: Anything can happen in one game.
Speaker 6: Right, But you wouldn't be the seventh seed now because
Speaker 6: we're down in a game and a half.
Speaker 3: Well, if you played the seven seed Miami and beat
Speaker 3: them at their place, you'd be the seven in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: You just have to beat them once for the seventh seed,
Speaker 3: so they would enter the playoffs as the seven if
Speaker 3: they beat them in the play in tournament.
Speaker 4: Oh right game, yes, yep, yeah, yeah, I was talking
Speaker 4: about that. I got way ahead of myself.
Speaker 1: We got we got sure.
Speaker 6: But that's what I mean, like that that had the
Speaker 6: head competition, and I think it matters, Like I think
Speaker 6: Miami could come they could come in here and win.
Speaker 6: It's not but that would be obviously it's an important game.
Speaker 1: Period.
Speaker 6: But I think to me, because you didn't play that
Speaker 6: well on Christmas, Joel didn't play, Maxie really struggled down
Speaker 6: there in that game. So either way, I mean, Miami
Speaker 6: is still a factor. No matter there's seventh, eighth, whatever
Speaker 6: it's gonna be, that's gonna be an interesting game. I
Speaker 6: know Coach loves going down there. He's talked about the
Speaker 6: battles you know that he's had over the years with
Speaker 6: Spolstra in the heats. So it should be exciting, that's
Speaker 6: for sure.
Speaker 4: We will be locked in. Tom McGinnis, thank you so much,
Speaker 4: all right.
Speaker 3: Murp Sixers beat the Thunder one oh nine, one oh five,
Speaker 3: Ubra with twenty five and Bead with twenty four in
Speaker 3: a four point Sixers win over the now fifte twenty
Speaker 3: three ok C Thunder. The Sixers beat them both times
Speaker 3: this year, and the Sixers are forty one and thirty
Speaker 3: five