Joel Embiid: 'I Had to Be Bill Russell' in 76ers' Win vs. Ja Morant, Grizzlies

Joel Embiid had to do it all in the Philadelphia 76ers' 110-105 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, finishing with a stat line of 27 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, one steal and six blocks.

After the game, the star big man told reporters he felt he had to play defense like Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell in order to balance out a night where he made 7 of 25 shots from the floor and none of his five attempts from deep.

"For me, like I always say, defense is more important for me than offense," Embiid said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "Even tonight, I could not make any shots, especially the one I usually make. But defensively, I thought I had to be Bill Russell tonight to be able to kind of balance it out."

Russell, a Hall of Famer, was known for his revolutionary defense and is widely considered one of the best defensive players of all time, in addition to being considered arguably the best defensive center in NBA history.

It would be difficult to compare Embiid to Russell, though the 76ers star is at least making his case to be the NBA MVP this season, averaging 33 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.6 blocks in 46 games.