Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been on an absolute tear in the month of January. He has thrown the Sixers on his back and carried them to victories.
Heading into Thursday’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, Embiid was averaging 34.5 points on 54.8% shooting this month. He had a down game in the win: He scored 26 points on 9-for-20 shooting, but he had nine rebounds and seven assists.
That such a stat line constitutes a down game for Embiid reinforces how dominant he has been. After the game, Lakers star Anthony Davis gave his respect to the big fella.
“It’s always fun playing against another great big,” said Davis. “He’s been on a tear. Averaging 43, or something like that. Putting the team on his back. We knew it was going to be a tough matchup coming the way he’s been scoring the basketball and it was fun.”
When two legitimate star big men get the opportunity to play like this, it is always fun for everyone involved. Embiid and Davis going at each other was a good time for the Los Angeles star despite the Sixers picking up the win.
“Fun to battle on both ends,” Davis added. “Me guarding him, him guarding me. Any time I get the chance to play against someone like that, I always try to have fun with those matchups. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get the win.”
Along with the praise from Davis, Lakers coach Frank Vogel compared Embiid to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. They are the best big men in the league, and both are in the MVP race.
“It’s not just about the low post,” Vogel said. “That’s the biggest thing. I think there’s a lot of similarities between him and Joker from a standpoint of how much time they spend on the perimeter and all the coverages that go into slowing him down.”
Embiid, like Jokic, can handle the ball. He can knock down the 3, and he can score in the mid-range as well as dominate the low block. So it isn’t just one area where he can beat you in.
“His 3-point line, long closeout driving game, the way they get it to him in the pocket, the way they pin down for him, there’s a lot of perimeter aspects to he and Joker and how they use those guys that it’s not just 15 touches on the low blocks in terms of trying to slow him down,” Vogel added. “There’s a variety of different things that go into trying to limit him. It’s very challenging to game plan for.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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