East Notes: Sixers, Joel Embiid, Wizards, Corey Kispert, Cavs

“I thought I was pretty bad,” Embiid told reporters. “I just understand. Usually when I come back from these things, I think 30, 40 (points), whatever it takes to get the win. This time, it’s a little different. It’s going to take me a while to get back to myself and really trust myself. As long as we win, I think my biggest impact is just being out there defensively.”

But Thunder coach Mark Daigneault sure was impressed.

“He changes them significantly,” Daigneault said. “They play a lot different stylistically when he’s into where they have been lately in the last 30 games he’s been out or so. When he plays, it certainly changes their approach.”

• In case you missed it, Embiid admitted that depression started to set in after his latest knee injury. Our Ashish Mathur has the latest here.

Wizards

Small forward Corey Kispert scored 27 points to lead the Wizards to an upset win over the Bucks, suggesting that it’s something to build on as the season comes to a close.

“It’s a step forward, maybe two steps forward,” Kispert said. “This is the attitude we need to have and the aggression we need to have when we play these kind of games, especially against a championship team like this. Super proud of everybody who played tonight.”

• Forward Kyle Kuzma missed the game with a heel contusion. He has been cleared to face the Lakers on Wednesday.
• Washington has not won 50 games in a season since 1978-79. Fittingly, that is the last time the franchise reached the NBA Finals, back when they were known as the Bullets. They won the championship the year before that.

Cavaliers

Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was pleased with how the Cavs moved the basketball in their easy road win over the Jazz on Tuesday.

“We try to take the play that’s there and we have enough talent on this team that if we just make the simple play, defenses are going to have to make tough choices,” he said.

Center Jarrett Allen agreed.

“This was one of those nights where it felt like we played our type of basketball,” he said. “The ball was moving. We were talking on defense.”

Allen added that the Cavs “wanted to send a message from the beginning of the game. We wanted to get back to what we know is how we play basketball.”

• In case you missed it, we discussed the remaining NBA schedule and what might lie ahead on the latest Cavs on the Break podcast. Check it out here.