Joel Embiid was an offensive monster for the Philadelphia 76ers over the weekend, and he also played some good defense — mentally.
Embiid scored 42 points in the Sixers’ 121-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. He did even more on Sunday. Embiid posted 59 points with 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 blocks in a 105-98 win over the Utah Jazz.
Late in the win over Utah, Embiid seemed to psyche out Markkanen by saying something to him at the free throw line.
Philly was leading 103-98 with 20.7 seconds left and Markkanen was at the line. Embiid told Markkanen not to make the shots so that he could get home in time to put his son to bed.
Joel Embiid says he told Lauri Markkanen don’t hit the free throws so we don’t have to go to overtime because he hast to get home and put his son Arthur to sleep 😂 He has a very strict bedtime 😂
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) November 14, 2022
Markkanen went on to miss the free throws, keeping things at a 2-possession game.
Embiid added two free throws with 4.9 seconds left, giving his team a 105-98 win.
Embiid seemed to be taking a page out of Jayson Tatum’s book with that comment. But the truth is Embiid was lying.
The Sixers big man admitted that his son has a strict bedtime of 7:30 pm.
Joel Embiid said he told Lauri Markkanen he had to put his son Arthur to sleep when he shot those free throws late in the first quarter, so he wanted him to miss to avoid overtime.
Embiid admitted he lied – he said Arthur is in bed every night at 7:30pm sharp.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 14, 2022
Embiid was joking around, but his words to Markkanen seemed to have the intended effect. Markkanen was just 1/4 from the line despite being an 83.9-percent free throw shooter this season.
