The Philadephia 76ers played their season debut game against the Bucks in Milwaukee. Not a good start for them as they had a narrow 118-117 loss against the Bucks. The Sixers were heading off without former MVP teammate James Harden, who found himself caught in his own mess. He had to stay back in Philly to get his body in shape for future games.

Regardless, they put up a good fight under the wing of last season’s MVP Joel Embiid. At the same time, Joel contributed to 7 turnovers in the game and made some sloppy shots that landed him at the receiving end of sports commentator Skip Bayless’ strong criticism. Clearly, it wasn’t his day, and he gave a rather poor performance, which was quite unlike him.

Joel Embiid cost the team a win

Former commentator for ESPN, Skip Bayless, did not hold back in berating Embiid for some careless shots he made and eventually missed during the game. Despite being a huge fan of Joel Embiid, Skip speaks his mind, “If you are the reigning MVP, you have to be better than this.”

To be fair, Embiid let three sure baskets out of his hands which could’ve pushed them to a win against the Bucks.

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As Skip points out, Embiid missed an open jumper, and although he made three 3-point baskets, he missed a crucial one that would’ve “stopped the bleeding“. Then Embiid also made a really bad pass that resulted in a turnover. Skip says, “I predicted he [Joel Embiid] win MVP last year I pushed for him to win MVP“. It looks like the former MVP has disappointed him in the first game of the season itself.

All eyes were on Tyrese Maxey

Despite this, Joel managed to drop 24 points and get 7 rebounds and 6 assists. However, this game’s spotlight was on 22-year-old Tyrese Maxey who overshadowed Joel Embiid and led the team to score with 31 points, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds across 32 minutes. We can cut Joel some slack as this is just the first game, but with James Harden already missing for now at least, Joel Embiid needs to step up and get this act together.

Also Read- 76ers Legend Charles Barkley Tags Joel Embiid “Biggest Loser” in James Harden Fiasco

The Bucks’ Damian Lillard and Giannis on the other hand, had a good run as their first game together since Dame joined the team in September. Skip had but one thing to say about the powerhouse duo. He said, “It was a great opening night for the dynamic duo, and now we’ll see what happens.”

Do you think Joel could have done better in the game against the Bucks? Let us know.

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