NBA : Joel Embiid, the truly indomitable Lion

NBA – Faced with Rudy Gobert and the NBA’s best defence, Joel Embiid confirms that it will be difficult to prevent him from retaining his MVP title.

Joel Embiid After Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, can Joel Embiid do the double? Reigning MVP, the Sixers pivot is dominating the NBA like never before, and last night he made his mark by sticking 51 points into the NBA’s best defence! Rudy Gobert was on the other side of the court, but Joel Embiid’s undermining did immense damage, as evidenced by his 17 out of 25 shooting and his 17 out of 18 free throws.

“Rudy’s four-minute exit clearly hurt us,” explains Chris Finch. It was from the Frenchman’s exit, penalised by fouls, that the Sixers launched their game, and Joel Embiid pressed even harder. It was even more apparent in the 3rd quarter, in which he scored 19 points!

“I felt like I was staying within the framework of the attack and not forcing anything,” said Joel Embiid, who has averaged 38.3 points in his last 12 games. “I took what I was given. I tried to understand when I had to be aggressive and when I had to let my team-mates do what they had to do.

Embiid has abandoned his 3-point shooting since the start of the season in favour of the mid-range game. This allows him to be even more dangerous, as he can create distance between himself and his defender off the dribble or with just a few steps, or go the distance. Like at the end of the 3rd quarter, when he crushed two huge dunks.

A crazy run of games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds…

“He’s continuing to improve and he’s doing enough different things at different paces to create doubt in his defenders,” Nick Nurse points out. “If guys are running at him, he can get them. And I like it when he goes to the low post.

Last night, Joel Embiid reached the 40-point mark for the 4th time in 5 games! It was his 12th game in a row with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. It’s the longest streak since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1971/72 season! But Joel Embiid couldn’t care less…

“We’re winning, and that’s all that matters,” he replies, “Stats are great, and it’s great to put up stats. But when we lose, it’s not the same story… If we win, it changes everything!”

And the Sixers did win, as it was their 7th victory in eight games, and it was mostly against the NBA leaders (before the game).