It took awhile for this top 3 draft pick to recover from injury woes and start having meaningful minutes on the court, but the wait for Joel Embiid to take center stage was well worth it.
In case you missed the epic game between the Sixers and the Lakers on 15 November, Joel Embiid put on quite a historic night.
It was a competitive and very watchable game, but the man-of-the-match nod must go to Embiid. The versatile big man was everywhere on the court when the Sixers needed him most. For a start, he filled up a stellar stat sheet with 46 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and seven blocks in an efficient 34 minutes game. Shooting 70 percent from the floor and gunning 66.7 percent from the 3-point range, Joel Embiid only committed two turnovers, which was unworldly for such a high-octane performance.
A few amazing records were smashed during this incredible game.
Article Continues BelowFirst, Joel Embiid is the first Sixers player since Charles Barkley, back in 1988, to finish the game with at least 45 points and 15 rebounds. Those are hall-of-fame-like numbers from a second year player.
Next, the Sixers have scored 100 points or more in 10 straight games, which broke the team's historic record written in 1997 for longest streak.
Finally, with his 46 points, Embiid ended a long drought in Sixers history. No player, apart from Allen Iverson, has had a 40-point game for 870 consecutive contests until Embiid ended this streak with the well-deserved win.
With such encouraging improvement, we can, perhaps, change the Sixers' motto from “Trust the Process” to “Trust the Progress”.