PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers were treated to another incredible performance on Monday night from Joel Embiid.
The big fella had a franchise record 70 points in a 133-123 win over the San Antonio Spurs. He shot 24-for-41 from the floor, and he made it look easy. He had 24 points in the first quarter, 34 at the half and 59 after three.
“He’s great,” Tyrese Maxey said shaking his head. “I keep telling everybody we cannot take this for granted. Not just as teammates, not just as an organization, but as fans — even if you’re not a fan of Philadelphia but you’re just a fan of basketball. Can’t take Jo for granted, man. What he’s doing right now is special and he’s not just doing it off layups, not just doing it off 3s. He can do every single thing.”
Maxey is right. Embiid made one 3-pointer on the night, but he was really effective in the mid-range, which allowed him to rack up the points rather easily. It’s nights like this that show how special Embiid is and it’s another reason Maxey really believes the big fella can get 70 on any given night.
“Honestly, you know what’s crazy? I think that very often,” Maxey stated. “Tonight, I think it was at half. I don’t know how many he had at half … 34. So 34 at half, that’s basically halfway to 70. He was extremely aggressive, man. They gave him shots all night and we kept feeding him.”
Tyrese Maxey on Joel Embiid’s performance #Sixers pic.twitter.com/f299ly23QF
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) January 23, 2024
Even coach Nick Nurse who has been around basketball all over the world has never seen anything quite like what the big fella did on Monday.
“I don’t believe that I have, nope,” Nurse shook his head. “I’ll have to check back on some of the British Basketball League records, but I don’t think so. That’s about as high (a scoring game) as I’ve seen.”
Considering the basketball greatness that has passed through Philadelphia, what Embiid did on Monday is much more special. It was a historic night in the City of Brotherly Love and everybody knew it.
“I knew it was 68,” Maxey said of the franchise record. “I think he missed a free throw to get him to 65. I didn’t know how he was going to get it, whether he’d shoot a 3 or not, but he got it and after he got it, he broke it. That’s amazing. Special night for all of us.”
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