Young Sixers big man gives thoughts on the strong play of Joel Embiid

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers have been waiting patiently for Joel Embiid to work his way back to being himself again following a frustrating couple of years on the injury front. After playing only 19 games in the 2024-25 season and having a miserable season, the big fella has begun finding his rhythm again in 2025-26.

Over his last seven games, Embiid is averaging 28.7 points, 4.0 assists, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks while shooting 49.3% from the floor and getting to the free-throw line 10.6 times per game. That is a big development for him as he asserts his dominance on the offensive end.

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The latest big checkmark for him was his first dunk of the season in Saturday's win over the New York Knicks which excited young big man Adem Bona.

"I know you saw the whole bench," Bona smiled at shootaround on Monday morning. "We were all hyped. I mean, it was a wide-open one, but we’ll take it, though. We’ll take it. It’s a dunk. His first dunk of the season."

In just his second season in the league, Bona didn't get much time with Embiid as a rookie. All of this is a new experience for him and Embiid's strong play has provided a big boost for everybody up and down the roster.

"It is great for the team," Bona added. "It’s great for the environment, you know? Getting back to the Jo we know is really awesome. It’s also good for him and his health is getting better, morale is high, we’re playing good together. It’s just good all around."

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A big development is the lineups when the Sixers have Bona and Embiid together. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Sixers are outscoring opponents by 3.9 points in the 62 possessions the two have played together thus far. It's a small sample size, but it is encouraging for Philadelphia to see those two have some success together.

"I think it’s just playing together a little bit more.," Bona said of the lineups. "The chemistry’s good and it’s been a while with all our guys together, like Joel and PG (Paul George) with us. It’s good to have them for, like, five games straight. That was really good. I think we’re just building chemistry. It’s something we could’ve had earlier. It’s just that we haven’t been around each other for a long time. So, I think it’s just time to come in and play right now."

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Young Sixers big man gives thoughts on the strong play of Joel Embiid