Paul George met with the media for the first time as a Sixers on Tuesday and talked about how his relationship with Joel Embiid came to be.
On a personal level, Joel Embiid’s Olympic debut certainly did not play out in ideal fashion.
On a team level, the American men had a lot to like Sunday in Paris.
Team USA opened Olympic play by earning a 110-84 victory over Serbia.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
LeBron James (21 points, nine assists, seven rebounds) and Kevin Durant (23 points in 17 sensational minutes) were standouts. Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic tallied 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
Embiid had a rough 11 minutes of action. On the day, he recorded four points on 2-for-5 shooting, two rebounds, one block and two turnovers. He was the only American player with a negative plus-minus Sunday (minus-8).
Embiid won the opening jump ball against former Sixers teammate Filip Petrusev. From there, he had a nightmarish start.
The seven-time All-Star center missed a mid-range jumper and came up empty on his first Olympic trip to the foul line. After Embiid turned the ball over on a rushed backcourt inbounds pass and Ognjen Dobric dropped in a floater, Serbia held a 10-2 lead. Team USA head coach Steve Kerr called timeout and put Anthony Davis in for Embiid.
NBA
The Americans went on a 12-2 run with Embiid sitting. James capped it by storming forward in the open floor and converting an and-one layup.
Returning from a calf injury, Durant came off the bench late in the first quarter and promptly drained a pair of three-pointers.
Durant stayed extremely hot in the second period, finished the first half by swishing a fadeaway jumper, and wound up starting 8 for 8 from the floor. Fantastic showing from Team USA’s all-time top scorer.
Unsurprisingly, Embiid’s second stint was better than his dismal first. He hit a short jumper and set screens that freed James and Stephen Curry for threes. Still, Embiid wasn’t suddenly on his A-game. He conceded an and-one bucket to Jokic when the three-time MVP spun around him and scored in the post. Jokic also nailed a catch-and-shoot triple over Embiid.
Embiid got an and-one jumper to fall in the third quarter, but he subbed out at the 5:06 mark after picking up his third foul and did not return.
Team USA built its lead to 19 points through three quarters and cruised to a blowout win in the fourth.
The Americans’ second game in Group C will be Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET vs. South Sudan, who beat Puerto Rico earlier on Sunday.
