With the Philadelphia 76ers on the second night of a back-to-back on Tuesday to finish their five-game road trip, they needed their star big man to step up and ensure a victory.
After being caught in a track meet on Monday and then having to travel for Tuesday’s game, Philadelphia could have easily fallen to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Instead, Joel Embiid made sure they didn’t.
The big fella attacked three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert all night to the tune of 39 points on 13-for-22 shooting. He went 4-for-4 from deep, 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, and he had seven rebounds with four assists and three blocks. He had 22 points in the third quarter as the Sixers beat the Timberwolves, 117-94.
“MVP,” Wolves star Anthony Edwards told reporters afterward. “Most Valuable Player in the NBA, for sure.”
Edwards did his best to keep the Timberwolves in it. He had 15 points in the first quarter and 32 for the game to pace Minnesota, but Embiid was too much to handle.
“Obviously, Joel is always a tough matchup, but I thought we did a good job in the first half keeping him off the line making him earn his points on contested 2s,” said Gobert. “The third quarter is really when he really got going.”
Embiid was knocking down step-back 3s and doing things a 7-footer shouldn’t be able to do.
“He hit two 3s, hit a few 3s off pick-and-pops, and then coach took me out the game, and he really took over,” Gobert continued. “He got to the line a lot and then I just look up and see he has 30 points. Really dominant night for him.”
There was nothing Edwards, Gobert and the Timberwolves could do on Tuesday. Embiid was in a groove and they were all just witnesses to what a dominant center can do. The way he scored and made jumpers look like layups was so impressive and a testament to his skill level.
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