Sixers Joel Embiid tops 50 points for second time this season

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid exploded for 53 points Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets. Heres what you need to know: Embiids MVP campaign got another boost Sunday with his second 50-point game in less than a month. The only question is whether Philadelphia can win enough games to earn the approval of voters.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid exploded for 53 points Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets. Here’s what you need to know:

  • This marks Embiid’s second 50-point game of the season, the first player to reach the scoring mark twice.
  • The 53 points are the second-most of his career and the fourth 50-point game of his career.
  • Philadelphia defeated Charlotte 131-113 to improve to 14-12.

Backstory

Embiid’s MVP campaign got another boost Sunday with his second 50-point game in less than a month. The only question is whether Philadelphia can win enough games to earn the approval of voters.

Joel Embiid racked up 28 PTS in the first half ♨🥵

Do not miss his second half on the NBA App ⬇https://t.co/1pomQZN8Pi pic.twitter.com/INRnlOFSbT

— NBA (@NBA) December 12, 2022

Sunday night’s scoring outburst was aided by a perfect 11-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line to go along with a season-high 20 field goals on 32 attempts. He also pulled down 12 rebounds, dished three assists and recorded a block in the win.

Advertisement

Embiid becomes the third player in 76ers history to record multiple 50-point games in a season, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

Embiid’s dominant maturity

Throughout his career, Embiid has tended to dominate teams that don’t have the requisite size to handle him on the low block. But as he has matured as a player, and even taken his game to the perimeter, those 30-point games have turned into 40 and 50-point performances.

Through 18 games, Embiid is averaging 33.4 points per game on 64.2 percent true shooting. Both numbers would be career highs. It has been a bit of an odd season for Embiid (who has missed eight games due to illness and injury) and the Sixers (who are only 14-12 on the young season), but there is an argument to be made that as an individual scorer, Embiid is still finding ways to get better. — Hofmann

How Embiid reached 53

Embiid’s highest point total of this season was also his career high, a 59-point performance against Utah in November. But this performance was much different than that one because Embiid wasn’t asked to carry the same type of offensive load.

“He made scoring look easy tonight,” James Harden said.

The Sixers scored 129.7 points per-100 possessions against Charlotte, the team’s second most efficient offensive performance of the season. Harden came up one rebound short of a triple double — he finished with 19 points and 16 assists — in addition to a 13-of-27 night from beyond the arc as a team. Embiid was the main cog of the Sixers offense against Charlotte, but he wasn’t the only player who was thriving.

Embiid’s best stretch of the game came at the end of the first half, when he scored 15 points in the last 3:03 of the second quarter. Embiid picked up three old-fashion 3-point plays during the stretch, driving the ball right at Mason Plumlee and having a ton of success.

Advertisement

The hot hand

“We have a saying: feed the hot hand,” Embiid said.

While Embiid’s power driving game was a big part of his performance, he has demonstrated that the best way to put up points in a hurry is to do so in a variety of ways. And Embiid did, with some post-ups, 3-point shooting and pull-up jumpers in the mid-range area.

Over the weekend, Embiid finished with 81 points in a couple of wins. And for his final points, Embiid scored on a slot drive. Doc Rivers correctly remarked that is an action usually reserved to guards and wings, not centers.

“He literally scored in every way that you can possibly score a basketball tonight,” Rivers said.

(Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57knJwa2poanxzfJFrZmpqX2Z%2BcL%2FIsZyrq12fvKa4jJ6km6GZmXp2fIyppqKmpKh6qbvRp5ytq18%3D

 Share!