Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 119-98 win over Philadelphia 76ers

Best in the world, you say?

Following his season-high performance in Philly’s overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets last time out, 76ers All-Star big man Joel Embiid had plenty to say about his standing in the league.

Unfortunately for him, he ran up against the league’s best team Saturday night, and the Bucks’ all-Lopez frontcourt, to finish with yet another disastrous performance against the Bucks for the second straight meeting.

Both Lopez brothers defended and stood their ground when battling for position with Embiid to disrupt him from gaining any sort of rhythm on that side of the ball. While Brook displayed his frustration by picking up questionable, ticky tacky foul calls throughout the first half, Embiid ended up with more free throws (7) than made field goals (5) on the night.

Embiid’s night turned from bad to worse as Antetokounmpo had no problem running through him, especially in the second half, leading Embiid to get into foul trouble at the start of third quarter. And from there, Embiid’s presence protecting the rim grew more suspect to take him out of the game completely.

The 25-year-old Embiid finished with 17 points on 18 shots (1-for-2 from three, 6-for-7 from downtown), 11 rebounds, four assists as well as four turnovers and was a -18 in just over 29 minutes of play.

As if that wasn’t bad for the 76ers, their questionable strategy to play an ailing Ben Simmons left the All-Star forward leaving the proceedings less than five minutes into the game after clearly being hobbled by lower back soreness. And as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported after the 76ers’ loss, Simmons is set to undergo an MRI on his back on Sunday.

Once again, the Bucks and the Lopez brothers prove that they have Embiid’s number in knowing how to limit him and match his physicality.