There are plenty of topics to talk about after Monday night’s embarrassment in Miami. The Sixers blew a 19-point lead, Kyle Lowry is washed out, Nick Nurse is doing God knows what, and Jared McCain is the only player performing at an above-average level. Joel Embiid was hit and gone for this game, but ended up playing 31 minutes. He was -22, scoring 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting and while grabbing eight rebounds and throwing five assists. He finished 0 of 0 from the foul line and didn’t attempt a single free throw for the first time in over five seasons:

For the first time since 2018, Joel Embiid didn’t attempt a free throw in a game

Embiid has had at least one free throw attempt in every game he’s played in besides TWO. pic.twitter.com/dlF5D0eXvf

– Sports Center (@SportsCenter) November 19, 2024

The game in question took place on February 9, 2018, a 100-82 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. Embiid made 24 and 16 on 11-for-18 shooting, while the Sixers shot just nine free throws all night. Trying to remember that one, I think it was during that period where he owned Anthony Davis, and therefore probably got everything he wanted to avoid fouling out. There were games in later years where he made only one free throw, but no donuts, and he never finished a playoff game with zero free throws.

This is of course essential to his game. In his MVP season, 2022-2023, he averaged 11.7 free throws per game and finished second in the NBA behind Giannis. Per 36 minutes, that would have been 12.2 FTA, and the crazy thing is he shot 85.7% from the charity stripe, which was better than Luka Doncic, Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum, to name just a few other non-big stars. with a similar number of trips on the line.

What is he doing in these last matches? Set screens, fly over the three-point line and take a few mid-range jumpers. 13 of his 37 field goal attempts have been from three-point range and only 11 of his shots have come from inside the paint:

It’s time to figure it out, because it’s almost Thanksgiving and the Sixers are 2-11 and tied for last in the East.