Instant observations: Joel Embid dominates in return, Sixers beat up Bulls

Here’s what I saw. A star-studded return So much for Joel Embiid being slow to get going after a long layoff. With the Bulls playing single coverage and all but daring Embiid to attack their small-ish frontcourt, Embiid went bonkers in his first quarter of basketball since late February, starting 6/7 from the field and scoring 15 points in just six minutes of action.

Pretty damn good. Donning a large white wristband for reasons we’ll have to investigate later, Embiid hit the Bulls with every trick in his bag to get this game rolling. He was on fire from deep, hitting three early threes from different spots above the break, and he had an easy time shooting over the likes of Nick Richards and Jalen Smith from the midrange to open his account for the evening.

Embiid unleashed a barrage of jumpers without having to face any allegations that it was a “soft” approach, driving his shoulder into his defender’s chest to move his man about 8-10 feet on every single possession. Seeing him check in for his second quarter shift and immediately draw a foul was heartening, a statement on how good he’s feeling after an extended absence. The big guy even had the nerve to go up and punch one over Matas Buzelis early in the third quarter, drawing some audible gasps from press row and a ton of screams around the arena: https://t.

co/WGIL2m9p0J pic. twitter. com/qyEztVyXLg — Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 26, 2026 The Bulls simply had no chance to stop this guy, and the pain only stopped when Embiid exited the game for the final time at the end of the third quarter, having dropped a 35-6-7 line on 12/17 from the field.