Joel Embiid once again proved his immense value to the Philadelphia 76ers. His team won 121-111 against the Toronto Raptors, with Embiid achieving something historic
Thirteen games in a row with at least 30 points and ten rebounds: there hasn’t been a streak like this in the NBA for just over 50 years. Back then, a certain Kareem Abdul-Jabbar achieved it in the 1971/72 season, followed by Elgin Baylor (1961/62) and the legendary Wilt Chamberlain on six different occasions.
Even if we have long since become accustomed to the outstanding performances of Joel Embiid, the league’s current MVP, such numbers make us sit up and take notice.
Embiid plays down his ankle injury
With 31 points, ten rebounds and nine assists, the 29-year-old played his part in his Philadelphia 76ers’ 121:111 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Friday evening (local time) – and was in good company. The trio of him and his two teammates Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey alone scored 97 points, with each of them scoring more than 30. That had only happened once before in the history of the franchise in 1961: Back then, the team was still called the Syracuse Nationals.
Embiid had already twisted his ankle in the first quarter, but he pulled through and turned it on. Even though he was limping in places and in pain, he didn’t want to make too big an issue of it afterwards. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ll get it checked out, we’ll see.” His coach Nick Nurse was “pretty sure that his ankle will hurt tomorrow”. You have to keep an eye on it before the next game in Miami, he said.
Schröder with a poor shooting performance
National player Dennis Schröder scored just six points and six assists as well as two rebounds for the Raptors due to a poor shooting performance. With eleven wins and 17 defeats, the Canadians are currently not even in one of the four places for the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, without the injured Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber, the Dallas Mavericks lost 96:122 at the Houston Rockets. The Golden State Warriors, who got off to a weak start to the season, secured their fourth win in a row with a 129:118 victory over the Washington Wizards.
