Eastern Conference Roundup: Motivated Embiid a Nightmare for Opponents

CSN’s staff of NBA Insiders delivers comprehensive coverage on your favorite teams. We enlisted A. Sherrod Blakely (Celtics), Jessica Camerato (76ers), Vincent Goodwill (Bulls), James Ham (Kings), Monte Poole (Warriors) and Jason Quick (Trail Blazers) for the latest edition of the CSN Insider Notebook – a whip-around look at what’s going on in each conference from the folks who know the league best...

EMBIID: I JUST WANT TO DOMINATE
 
Some athletes attest they don’t listen to what people to say about them. Not Joel Embiid. The rookie admitted he paid attention to the criticism the Sixers received after getting blown out by the Timberwolves on TNT.
 
Embiid channeled that frustration and disappointment when the Sixers played the Suns Saturday night. After being cleared to play (mild left ankle sprain) just before game time, Embiid went on a scoring frenzy in the first.
 
He dropped 17 points in the quarter alone, on his way to a career-high 26 points. His stat line was ridiculous given that he only played 20 minutes and 23 seconds (9-14 FG, 3-5 3PG, 5-6 FT, 7 rebs, 2 ast, 2 blocks, 4 PF, 3 TO).

“Going into the national TV game, one of my main goals was to make sure that when people think about the Sixers -- they think about us losing or I don’t know what else, so I wanted to change that,” Embiid said. “I didn’t get to change that, so I was really mad after the game. But after that game, that was probably one of the main reasons why I came out in the first quarter, I just wanted to dominate. … That made me mad and that’s a fuel for me. I like that. I like competition. I want to fight. I want to win.” 

-- Jessica Camerato

HORFORD RETURNS, IMPACT FELT IMMEDIATELY
 
The long-awaited return of Al Horford to the Boston Celtics lineup finally happened. He delivered the kind of performance that should have silenced the growing number of critics who thought he was taking too much time off the floor in dealing with a concussion. 
 
On the road against a Detroit team that was the last undefeated team in the league at home, Horford delivered his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, a night he punctuated by scoring the game-winning basket on a put-back, and bookended it with a last-second blocked shot to seal the victory. 
 
In an exclusive interview with CSNNE.com the day before his return, Horford revealed he was “starting to feel more like himself again.”
 
He understood why fans thought he should have been back sooner because he too had preconceived ideas about concussions prior to having experienced one himself.
 
“This whole time in general has been hard for me,” Horford told CSNNE.com. “Just because I’m learning like everybody else is about having a concussion. I never thought it was something that, that serious. But now I’m finding out.”

-- A. Sherrod Blakely

MEEK MAGIC OFFENSE HAS HELP ON THE WAY
 
Jodie Meeks, who was acquired for a 2019 second-round pick from the Detroit Pistons, is practicing fully again and the Magic are in desperate need of offense. 

They hover at the bottom of the NBA in scoring and three-point shooting percentage. Meeks only played in three games last season because of a broken bone in his right foot and had a setback that required a screw to be inserted which delayed his arrival in Orlando. 

How long until he's able to return to game action is unclear, but Meeks is a career 37.3% three-point shooter. The Magic entered the weekend with losses in which they scored just 82, 80, 74 and 69 points.

-- J. Michael

MJ RECEIVES HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR
 
President Obama will honor Hornets owner Michael Jordan with a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by a sitting president.
 
Jordan, who won six championships with President Obama’s hometown Chicago Bulls, will be one of 21 recipients. 
 
Jordan made a statement this summer regarding police brutality and racial strife, and he donated $1 million to a community-policing association and another $1 million to the NAACP legal defense fund.

-- J. Michael

HOIBERG TOSSED FOLLOWING TOUGH LOSS
 
It was a sight you would never expect to see as a Chicago Bulls fan – head coach Fred Hoiberg tossed from a game. 
 
But that was indeed what went down on Saturday night near the end of a tough 102-95 road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. 

A questionable call against Jimmy Butler, guarding Blake Griffin at the time, seemed to be the jumping off point for what eventually led to Hoiberg being ejected for the first time in his NBA coaching career.
 
Fans weren’t the only ones surprised by the unexpected tossing. 
 
So were some of the Bulls players who spoke about it following the loss.

-- A. Sherrod Blakely

'GREEK FREAK' OFF TO HISTORIC START
 
The Bucks haven’t won as many games as they would want to on the floor, but you can’t blame Giannis Antetokounmpo for it. 
 
The 6-foot-11 do-it-all talent is on a good pace to join one of the more elite groupings in NBA history. 
 
He’s averaging 21.8 points, 2.1 blocks and 1.8 steals this season, a clear example of how versatile he has been in terms of scoring the ball and defending his position as well as serving as an elite help-side defender. Since blocks and steals were first tracked during the 1973-1974 season, only two players (Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson) have averaged at least 20 points while tallying two or more steals and two or more blocked shots per game.

-- A. Sherrod Blakely

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