The thing about Joel Embiid is that we haven't seen anything from him coming into this preseason so every night he takes the court, in a sense, it's like Christmas for the Sixers diehards. We just don't know what we're going to get.
We've seen some sweet dunks and impressive blocks. We've seen his ability to back defenders down on the block and use his footwork to hit a sweet fadeaway. We've seen him pull up from three and make it look easy.
And now we've seen him lock up one of the speediest point guards in the game.
Now, admitedly, Joel Embiid being stuck on John Wall alone out by the three point is not a matchup I'd want to see often, but JoJo holds his own in admirable fashion. It's impressive.
"He's skilled," Wall said when asked about the Sixers' rookie big following the Wizards blowout of Philly. "He can shoot the ball. He can put the ball on the floor. He has great footwork. All different things. He's getting in shape and just getting closer to the game."
You can re-watch all 13:55 of Embiid's time on the court in Washington in the above video.
NBA
Embiid finished with 11 points and 12 boards in 14 minutes.
Brett Brown likes what he sees.
“You continue to see that competitive quality,” Brown said. “The fact he stalks rebounds, he chases stuff down. He’s a legitimate, aggressive presence at the rim. … It’s clear we’re going to have to do a good job, a better job of getting him the ball.”
More on Embiid's continued improvement here.