PHILADELPHIA—Joel Embiid threw down a thunderous dunk and whirled back down the court pretending to be an airplane, cupped his hand to his ear to hear the crowd’s adulation — like he was doing an Allen Iverson or Hulk Hogan imitation — and did a little shimmy dance at his bench as Philadelphia’s rout out of the Raptors wound down Thursday night.
He punked Toronto, many thought. It was reminiscent of LeBron James casually twirling the ball in his hands before drilling an uncontested shot in the playoffs against Toronto, or James pretending to sip a fan’s beer during a stoppage in play in the same series.