On Monday, January 22, Joel Embiid dropped seventy points on the San Antonio Spurs in a 133-123 win. The Cameroonian center came out and welcomed the rising French rookie, Victor Wembanyama to the league.
Embiid, averaging 36.0 points per game this season, is coming off of an MVP season and looks like he might win again this year. Going into the matchup, the 76ers record was 29-13, whereas the Spurs were 8-34. The Sixers were predicted to win by 84%.
Embiid started off the matchup with an incredible 24 points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he added ten points, giving him 34 points in the first half. In the third quarter, he began with a three and then a one-and-one, leading Head Coach Nick Nurse to say, according to ESPN, “Wait a minute, he’s already got like 37, 38, something like that. I was like, ‘Geez, that’s a lot, with a whole half to go.’” Joel then scored 25 more points leaving him with 59 at the end of the third.
Joel Embiid normally sits in the fourth quarter if the 76ers are winning, so it was unknown if he was going to check back in to go for his personal best or for the Seventy Sixers record which was set by the great Wilt Chamberlain in 1967 against the Chicago Bulls when Chamberlain had scored 68 points. However, Joel checked back in with 6:25 left on the clock. He made a pair of free throws bringing his total to 61, surpassing his career record. “The only thing I told my teammates was please just don’t force it,” Embiid said. “Let’s just play basketball. If I’m open, pass it, if I’m not, make sure you make the right play.”
Joel continued to work against the San Antonio defense as he powered toward the 70-point mark. Getting a defensive rebound off the Spurs, Embiid proceeded to go coast to coast and lay a finger roll lay up in the basket for the 70-point mark with 1.22 left in the game. He then clocked out.
Joel went 24 of 41 from the field 21-23 from the free throw line and 1 of 2 from beyond the arc. In addition to his 70 points, he had 15 rebounds and 5 assists as well as a block and a steal. He became the ninth player ever to break the 70-point club joining Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, David Robinson, Kobe Bryant, Devon Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard. Embiid’s, however, was done in the shortest amount of time as he reached the total in just 37 minutes.
“It was just a great night”
Joel Embiid
“It was just a great night,” Embiid said according to an Athletic reporter. “I had it going. I mentioned a few times, a lot of teammates are extremely unselfish, and they just kept giving me the ball, and I just finished it.” As we watch the rest of the season we hope that Embiid can keep up this MVP-level caliber and carry the Sixers through the playoffs.
