The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 121-120 in overtime on Saturday.
Given that this outing marked Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris’ returns from lengthy layoffs, many anticipated the Sixers would easily handle a squad that struggled to be .500 this year.
That lack of faith apparently annoyed Timberwolves players.
After his team secured a big victory, guard D’Angelo Russell bluntly called out Embiid, Harris and the 76ers as a whole.
D’Angelo Russell, postgame on television: “They had guys that sat out and thought it was sweet to come back and play against us. It ain’t sweet.” pic.twitter.com/HvsfDRvuYe
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) November 28, 2021
“They had guys that sat out and thought it was sweet to come back and play against us,” he said matter-of-factly. “It ain’t sweet.”
Yikes.
To be fair to Russell, the Wolves are pretty routinely disrespected. And while Embiid did finish with 42 points in his return, the 35-20 first quarter hole that Philly dug for itself proved to be too big to climb out of.
Big picture, this outing won’t have a huge impact on either of these teams’ biggest problems. Rumors surrounding Karl-Anthony Towns’ seemingly inevitable trade keep circulating; Ben Simmons continues to haunt the 76ers. Neither of those issues got resolved on Saturday night.
That’s one way to celebrate divorcing Johnny Manziel. https://t.co/jQ28nDRqn1
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 24, 2021
But clearly Russell and Minnesota walked away from the evening feeling themselves a little bit. It will be interesting to see how and if Embiid and Co. ultimately respond going forward.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
