PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers received another big performance from Joel Embiid on Friday night in a 124-92 win over the Detroit Pistons. The big fella had 35 points and 13 rebounds in three quarters of play and he made it look incredibly easy.
Embiid shot 9-for-19 from the floor and 15-for-16 from the free-throw line. Detroit was missing talented big man Jalen Duren and the big fella went to work against Isaiah Stewart and James Wiseman all night.
Embiid made history in the process. It’s his ninth straight game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, which is a franchise record that was held by Wilt Chamberlain.
Tyrese Maxey, who famously says “Joel Embiid is good at basketball” every chance he gets, repeated himself on Friday, but he also did expand a bit more.
“Can anybody guess what I’m about to say?” Maxey asked the media. “He’s very good at basketball. I’ll even elaborate more. He is getting better, which is scary. He did a layup, a layup that I usually do, a Eurostep high glass, like touch layup. I looked next to Pat Bev and said ‘He’s 7-foot-2 and just ran full speed and did the same layup I just did.’ And that’s scary, just kudos to him man. We appreciate him and he’s got all it takes to be great.”
Embiid is playing at another incredibly high level. It’s like Maxey said, he is continuing to get better and that should be a scary thought for the rest of the league.
“I know this is not a Joel Embiid breakdown, but (expletive)!” said Marcus Morris Sr. “The dude can like — he’s a special player, man. Like I haven’t seen anything like that. Somebody, like 7-foot-1, push the break, shoot the 3, post up, and defend. I mean, he’s a special player.”
The Sixers will go as far as Embiid takes them. He has to remain healthy for Philadelphia to reach its desired destination in the playoffs.
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