Joel Embiid has looked like an MVP candidate again after a stretch of rough games to start the season. The Philadelphia 76ers superstar had one of the most dominant performances in the history of the NBA leading his team to victory over the Utah Jazz.
Embiid had the performance of his career Sunday night, finishing with 59 points – a career high – to go along with 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 blocks in 36 minutes. He scored 26 of the team’s 27 points in the fourth quarter, along with registering five blocked shots in the final period.
Per @StatsWilliams, Joel Embiid is the first person to have at least 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a game since stats became an official stat 50 years ago.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) November 14, 2022
“This is not about me,” Joel Embiid said. “We did it as a team. Obviously, the coaches put me in those positions and my teammates fed me the ball. I thought we had great spacing around everything we were doing. Like I said, all the credit goes to my teammates.”
After a bout with plantar fasciitis caused him to miss valuable workout time over the summer and a bout with the flu kept him out for a week. Joel Embiid gave the first signs of his resurgence Saturday, when he scored 42 points in the Sixers’ 109-121 victory over Atlanta.
Joel Embiid: 59 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 blocks in 76ers’ 105-98 victory over Jazz. 26 points and 5 blocks in the fourth quarter. Embiid drops 101 points inside 24 hours in victories over Hawks and Jazz.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 14, 2022
The two victories allowed Philadelphia to get back to .500, and concluded a 3-1 week with Embiid back on the court after he missed three games following a bout with a non-COVID-19 illness.
Those three wins came against Utah, Phoenix and Atlanta – all teams with winning records. Embiid and the Sixers will get much-needed rest as the team will have some time off before returning to action on Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
