Two weeks ago, Kevin Durant led an incomplete Brooklyn Nets to a philadelphia 76ers led by Joel Embiid before waving to opponents in the Barclays Center to leave the court.
Embiid treated himself the way he did on Thursday night, waving off the Nets' home court after his 76ers beat the Nets 110-102.
"That's the best team in the league. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for him. Embiid said, and then he added with a wry smile, "I mean, judging by his last performance, this time it's the same thing he told us." ”
"Overall, I'm back."
After another great performance by the 76ers (19-16), Embiid has the right to show off this time. The 76ers have now gone on a three-game winning streak, with four wins in their last five games. The big man had 34 points, seven rebounds, one assist, three steals and one block in 32 minutes, while second-year shooting guard Teres Maxi hit five three-pointers and set a career-high 25 points.
But, as usual, Embiid stole the limelight, celebrating his 2+1 with 15.3 seconds left in the game. After missing two weeks of games for triggering NBA health and safety protocols, Durant returned to the court. He expressed his displeasure with Embiid, and both eventually suffered two technical fouls.
The last 15 seconds passed, and more verbal quarrels followed. Embiid repeatedly waved durant to let him go, and then as he left the court, he made a gesture to Philadelphia fans gathered near the 76ers' bench to celebrate.
Despite this on the pitch, Durant and Embiid were both very respectful after the game and said that "trash talk" between the two of them was far from a new thing.
"If you keep watching me and Joel [Embiid] play, you'll find that we do it every game, even the All-Star Game." Durant said, "We just have a lot of respect for each other, and naturally there is a spark of competition." It's in the name of the game, to let them know that we will greet them with the same energy. Durant scored 33 points, six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes. He said: "I love the energy they had when they played tonight. You like to compete, then he will only make you better. ”
Embiid further explained that Durant is the only player in the league who may be more talented than him on the basketball court.
Speaking of Durant, Embiid said, "I always tell people that I think I can do anything on basketball and not many people can do that. If there's a player who's probably as talented as I am, or more talented than me, it's definitely him. ”
"I have a lot of respect for him and I appreciate his game. We're all just going to be competitive, and winning is what matters most, every game, and it's always great to beat the best team in the league. ”
Both teams have been through a lot over the past few weeks. The Nets roster was delayed by COVID-19 for 3 games, and Kyrie Irving was seen returning to the training ground on Wednesday for the first time since camp with his team.
Ever since Embiid triggered a health and safety deal after the 76ers' 8-2 start, the 76ers have struggled to get back to where they were at the start of the season. Since then, the 76ers' record has been 11-16, and that's not yet the beginning of a series of events that have been going on about Ben Simmons.
The 76ers' difficulties added on Thursday night, with head coach Doug Reeves triggering a health and safety deal that morning, with veteran NBA assistant coach Dan Burke temporarily taking his place.
Burke has more than 30 years of experience as an assistant coach, and while working under Nate McMillan for the Indiana Pacers, he missed out on two opportunities as acting head coach. Before the game he admitted that the misses "haunted him", and he later had a hard time suppressing his excitement about the 76ers' performance.
"It's fun, (we have) a bunch of great role players, and a lot of big hearts. If you have these, every night you will have opportunities on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. Burke said.
At the moment, the 76ers have not played in four days and only three games in the next 12 days — a welcome respite for a team that has gone through hell in the first two months of the season.
In Andre Drummond's view, there is a silver lining for all this.
"Damn, we're pretty much all team up with COVID-19, so we should be okay now." Drummond laughs and says, "We've solved that part of the problem, so we should be great for the rest of the season." ”