ORLANDO, Fla. — Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is one of the top players in the game. There isn’t much that he can’t do on the floor and the rest of the league knows it. They know how tough it is to really try and contain him and the Orlando Magic received another reminder on Friday.
Embiid had 36 points on 12-for-22 shooting to lead the Sixers to a 124-109 road win. No matter what the Magic did, they couldn’t slow him down. Goga Bitadze and Wendell Carter Jr. did their best, but Embiid is just on another level.
“He’s the MVP for a reason,” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley of Embiid. “I mean we can have every game plan, you can have every scheme, but you know he’s getting to the area – and you put a hand on him it turns into a foul. If you don’t put a hand on him, he’s making that 15-, 17-footer that he’s shooting at a 60% clip.”
The Sixers kept giving the ball to Embiid. He scored 28 points in the first half. No matter what the Magic had schemed up or anything they tried to do, it didn’t matter much. The big fella did what he does and he made it look so easy.
“They kept it simple,” added Carter Jr. “When something worked for them, they went back to it and they exhausted it until we stopped it, and then they went to something else. I think with them being such a veteran team, they pay really good attention to the small details. Understanding where guys like to drive. Where guys like to get their shots.”
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