Sixers fans await Embiid debut, but Thunder not fretting

It is the most exciting Wednesday on the sports scene here in Philadelphia in quite some time as Joel Embiid will make his two-years long awaited debut with the 76ers Wednesday night when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Wells Fargo Center.

Just don't tell that to Thunder center Steven Adams, whose job it will be to battle against the 7-2, 275-pound Embiid.

"Embiid's new. We did a normal scout on him," said Adams, a physical 7-foot, 250-pounder. When the next question was whether he was impressed from the tape he saw of Embiid, Adams sarcastically responded, "Sure, yeah. I don't know. No one cares. It's a team thing."

That is Adams' nature; that is the way he goes about his business, never too up, never too down. Plus, his team is led by one of the superstars of the league, Russell Westbrook. And though Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors, Adams knows that with Westbrook and a veteran roster, OKC is still a team that should be able to come into most cities, especially Philadelphia, and win games.

"We've just got to be ready to play," said Westbrook. "Home opener's are always a little bit different than any other game so we just have to come out and be the more poised and controlled team. We've just got to play our game, stick to our principles and stick to what we've been doing."

That could be all the Thunder will need to get past the Sixers, a team that has had little normalcy since training camp began just over a month ago. Ben Simmons, Nerlens Noel and Jerryd Bayless won't play Wednesday night because of injury, while Embiid will be limited to 20 minutes and Jahlil Okafor 12 as they are eased back into play.

As coaches do, Billy Donovan expressed concern about facing the Sixers.

"They're obviously very gifted, very talented," Donovan said of the Sixers' front line. "They have the flexibility to play different lineups. Certainly, post defense will be critical. Rebounding the ball will be very, very important. Our ability to move our feet around the basket and force tough, contested shots and not give up angles or give up position or allow deep catches. I think our post up defense will be challenged most of the night."

Donovan is familiar with Embiid, having coached against him when he was the head coach at the University of Florida during Embiid's lone season at Kansas.

"You could see he was really, really talented, really gifted," Donovan said. "He's got a very good feel of how to play. He's a good passing big man. Obviously, he can do a lot of things facing up in terms of shooting the basketball and putting the ball on the floor. With his back to the basket, he's got really good footwork. You could tell in college he was going to be a terrific player and evolve into one."

The Embiid era begins Wednesday night. Though that isn't a big deal to Thunder players, it may be the biggest buzz a sports team has caused on a Wednesday in a long, long time.