The Philadelphia 76ers arguably endured their most embarrassing loss of the season with a 121-112 setback against the 3-14 Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, but that didn’t stop Joel Embiid from having some fun after the game.

The Sixers center was asked what went wrong against the Cavaliers during his postgame press conference. What followed was a tremendously tongue-in-cheek response … we hope.

“Like Tristan said before the beginning of the season, the Cavaliers still run the East, so they came here tonight and they proved us that,” Embiid said.

Embiid’s quote is a reference to Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson’s technically correct preseason proclamation that the Cavaliers are four-time defending conference champions and that the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and, or course, the 76ers are not.

Thompson’s words were met with laughter, some from the Sixers themselves, the day they hit the internet thanks to the somewhat notable subtraction of LeBron James from the four-time Eastern Conference champions.

Shockingly, the comment did not age gracefully either, as the Cavaliers sit only one spot above the bottom of the conference at 3-14 despite their upset win over the 76ers. The team has already cut ties with head coach Tyronn Lue, ticket prices have nosedived and J.R. Smith has forced his way out while noting the team’s plan seems to be sinking into the abyss and re-emerging with younger, better players. That would be bad news for a veteran like Thompson.

Then again, Thompson at least posted 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting with 13 rebounds and a team-leading +19 plus/minus during Cleveland’s win over the Sixers, so maybe he earned the right to not have to hear it from Embiid for at least one night. That likely mattered little to Embiid.

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