Joel Embiid is cruising through the MVP race ahead of Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, going in red-hot form right towards the end of the season, when it matters the most.
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The 7-footer’s 30-point night against the Pacers on Saturday clinched him two significant records in Sixers’ history from probably its three greatest players of all time— Wilt Chamberlain, Allen Iverson, and Charles Barkley.
9th straight 30-point night for Joel Embiid
Last season’s scoring champ, Embiid, was pretty close to breaking the most consecutive 30-point games by a Sixers player. However, he has now broken a tie with Wilt and AI, who previously held this record.
Joel Embiid is the first Sixer EVER with 30+ PTS in 9 straight.
35 PTS, 8 REB
31 PTS, 6 REB, 10 AST
42 PTS, 5 REB, 3 AST
39 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 3 BLK
39 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST, 3 BLK
34 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST, 4 BLK
36 PTS, 18 REB, 4 BLK
38 PTS, 13 REB, 5 AST, 4 BLK
31 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST pic.twitter.com/jMXmmqoR7o— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) March 19, 2023
It was his career’s 155th 30-point game, which has taken him over another legendary Sixer, Charles Barkley, who was second behind Iverson with 303.
It’s @JoelEmbiid‘s 155th career game with 30-or-more points, breaking a tie with Charles Barkley for second all-time in @sixers franchise history.
Only @alleniverson (303) has more.
h/t @Stathead
— Sixers Stats (@SixersStats) March 19, 2023
A significant thing to notice about it is both AI and Chuck had those 30-point games while averaging well over 40 minutes per outing in their Sixers’ careers. Joel plays an average of 34.6 minutes per game throughout his career.
Joel Embiid’s individual brilliance this season
After giving a big blow to the Indiana team’s Play-offs hope, with his 31 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and two blocks outing, Embiid now has two Chicago Bulls games ahead of him.
Although Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan-led team have been in good shape of late, they do not have anybody that can provide resistance to the Cameroonian big man.
As good as their big man Nikola Vucevic is on the offense, his defense is no match for the Sixers’ big who is averaging 33.3 points per game to lead the league in scoring as well as the MVP title race.
Embiid has led his team to a 48-22 record. Having played a game less than the Celtics, Sixers have the same amount of losses as the #2 team in the East. With 12 games remaining, and the Bucks’ 50-20 record to chase, the seeding battle is going to be as exciting as it has been in the last few years.
