Midway through Thursday’s press availability, a barefooted Joel Embiid walked over to the group of assembled media waiting for Brett Brown.

“You guys want to talk to Jahlil? He’s got some shit to say!”

Everyone was in a good mood on the day after the Sixers’ third straight win, a 119-109 home triumph against the Atlanta Hawks.

Brown’s team can improve to 5-4 with a victory against Indiana tomorrow, and they’ll have the services of center Richaun Holmes, who was cleared to play for the first time this season after missing eight games with a left wrist fracture.

“I think we have something available to us that is different than all of our bigs,” the head coach said. “In relation to what does that mean playing him, I feel that the knowledge that he’s available to me to use is different. Do I have any preconceived ideas of how much I’m going to play him? Not really. I think initially you’re going to feel out the Amir (Johnson) situation. Obviously there’s a competitive situation right there with Amir and Richaun. I think the game is going to sort of speak louder than my preconceived notion. What you should hear loudest is that he’s back, he’s different, we’re excited to have him back, and he can help this team.”

I wouldn’t expect Holmes to play a ton of minutes tomorrow night. It’ll probably depend on Amir Johnson’s foul situation. But the skill sets are a bit different.

“There’s an athleticism,” Brown said of Holmes. “He’s an elite roller. He rolls to dunk. I think his breakaway rim to rim speed, just running an early offense, is A+. There’s a sort of tenacity and toughness. He wears his heart on his sleeve. That adds to what we’re trying to do anyways. But there’s just a balance. There’s a balance to Richaun Holmes that makes him different.”

In other medical news, JJ Redick sat out practice with the same lower back tightness that kept him out of the recent wins in Dallas and Houston. He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting last night and is probable for Friday.

Markelle Fultz did “limited basketball activity” and continued to rehab his right shoulder,

Embiid was rested Thursday.

 

Second quarter slumps

The Sixers were outscored by the Hawks 32-25 in last night’s second quarter. They were outscored 29-21 in the second quarter of the Houston win and 33-25 in the same period of the Dallas win.

They’re getting it done when it matters, but they’re hitting that same second quarter interval where they squander the lead and allow opponents back into the game.

Why the slump?

Brown offered a non-answer, but it was interesting.

“We ‘gameify’ – it’s a  word I made up I think – but we ‘gameify’ the last two minutes of the 2nd period and the first three minutes of the 3rd period,” Brown said. “We feel like we have 82 five minute games and we chart that, we treat it like a separate record. In the preseason we would practice it. And I would walk them into the locker room. We’d go play two minutes, then walk into a locker room. There’s a routine now, the league is very demanding of when you get em in and get em out. We practice it. I think that’s where you can make money. You’re smart ending the second and you come out (playing well) in the third. NBA warm-ups are a joke to me, for the most part, with how you get yourself ready to play. So we want to be better and a little different. I think, in general, we still aren’t where I want to be. To (give you) an exact reason, I have ideas that we foul too much, and people are going to the line. That stop/start thing is something that we’ve gotta do a little bit better. We’re growing the execution, but probably what you should hear the most is that we ‘gameify’ and we are completely aware of that period in and NBA game and we need to get better.”

T.J. McConnell had a more blunt answer.

“We’ve just got to know our personnel,” the guard said. “And in defense, you’ve got to play hard. When things break down it’s all about just playing hard and I think we lose sight of that a little bit. We’ll figure it out, but it’s pretty much just playing hard on that end.”

 

“I love you, really”

Amir Johnson doesn’t do a lot of social media. He’s tweeted five times since July. But all five of those tweets were in direct response to media criticism about his on-court play.

This was the first exchange, with 94 WIP midday host Joe DeCamara:

And then this one with Jake Pavorsky:

Johnson was back at it after last night’s win:

I asked Johnson Thursday if he was genuinely bothered by the criticism, or if he was just joking around.

Johnson: “I never (responded to online criticism) in my career at all. This was the first time. I just decided to start back.”

Crossing Broad: What made you want to do that?

Johnson: “I don’t know. I just wanted to see what they would say to my response. I’ve never responded to media so I just wanted to see how they would respond back if I said something.”

Crossing Broad: What was your response to their response?

Johnson: (laughs) “It was kind of like, you know, ‘I love you, really.’ I was saying it just to say it, pretty much. I think it’s cool just interacting with the fans. And I definitely appreciate the criticism at the same time. I love to love and it’s just kind of cool talking back and forth, seeing what the fans think. I’m all about our fans and everything else. It’s pretty cool.”

Johnson’s tone was jovial and lighthearted. No hard feelings on his side.