Joel Embiid Is 3-for-17 From Deep After Claiming He Quit Shooting Threes

Joel Embiid has made just three of his 17 three-point attempts this season. The Philadelphia 76ers center made that stat impossible to ignore on Wednesday after a road victory over the Indiana Pacers. He missed all three of his long-range shots in that game. Then he said he was done trying them.

"I think I might just give up on shooting threes myself," Embiid said. "Can't make any as a team. We shot pretty good tonight, but overall, since the season started, it just hasn't been it - starting with me. So yeah, I quit."

The comment came with a grin, but the next game proved he was not fully serious. Embiid took four three-point attempts against the New York Knicks on Friday. He missed all four. His season percentage remains 18 percent from beyond the arc.

Head coach Nick Nurse says the team needs Embiid to space the floor. He argues that defenses must respect the center's outside shooting, which opens driving lanes for other stars. "I think it's hard to guard when you've got a big that can go out and pop," Nurse said. "It's a lot of game-planning and all that kind of stuff. I think it will open up the driving lanes for some of those other guys."

The Sixers feature five players in their starting lineup who can shoot threes. That creates a difficult puzzle for opposing coaches. They must decide whether to stay home on Embiid or switch to guard the perimeter threats. Nurse noted that Embiid mostly takes wide-open looks. "I can only really remember one maybe that I would be like, 'That one was a little guarded,'" Nurse said. "I think most of the time he wants to take them fairly wide open or pretty wide open."

While the star center struggles from distance, Dean Wade is providing energy off the bench. Wade recorded 10 assists in a win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. That number doubled his previous career high. He also had five rebounds, two steals, and a block. In the prior game against New York, Wade played 27 minutes without taking a single shot. He recorded three steals and defended against Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Tyrese Maxey praised Wade's defensive versatility. "He's great. He's great, man," Maxey said. "He's been great, though. He's in the position where some nights he'll start, some nights he won't start, some nights he'll play five, some nights he'll guard Jalen Brunson, he'll guard KAT. He's - I love Dean Wade."

The Sixers are also managing a roster with multiple two-way contracts. Caleb Love has been active in six of the team's first seven games. He has 44 of his 50 available two-way days remaining. Love said he focuses on staying ready rather than counting days. "I just take every day as what it is," Love said. "I can't really control me playing or not. What I can control is me putting the work in, coming in, being a professional each and every day, giving the guys energy and things like that."

The team's third two-way spot went to Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 center. He suffered a hip injury in training camp and did not dress for a game until Saturday. Nurse said he saw good things in Fall before the injury but is still figuring out how to use him. "How I plan on using him probably remains to be seen," Nurse said. "But kind of was intrigued and liked what I saw in the fall, so we’ll see what happens."

Injuries have affected the league this season. Seventy-nine players were listed as injured or ill on the injury report for games on a recent Monday. That is approximately 15 percent of the NBA. The Sixers have missed several players, including Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac. Maxey said the team is grateful for its relative health. "I hate seeing guys hurt," Maxey said. "I'm a big fan of Hali, big fan of Ant. I like watching those guys play when I'm not playing. So I think for me, it's just trying to take care of my body. And as a team as a whole, we've been blessed to be decently healthy right now."

Embiid offered a brief perspective on the injury toll across the league. "It's all up to God," Embiid said. "All we've got to do is pray."