Subscribe
Follow Us
On Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 120-108, to extend their unbeaten streak to six games strengthen their bid for a third-seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The game also marked the game in which Sixers center Joel Embiid turned away fellow unicorn and Timberwolves biggie Karl-Anthony Towns’ shot at the rim.
This @JoelEmbiid block is the talk of the Towns. https://t.co/kOHXHLeCZm
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 24, 2018
That, folks, is the basketball equivalent of two battleships colliding head to head on open water.
Towns probably thought that he would get an easy two points in that play, but instead got his dreams for a freebie blown out of the water by Joel Embiid with that massive block. Apart from averaging 23.4 points and 11.4 points per game, Embiid is also rejecting 1.8 blocks per contest.
Article Continues Below
That was not the only bad thing that happened to Towns in the game though. He was clearly outplayed and contained by Embiid. While Embiid finished the game with 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the field to go with six rebounds and three blocks in 24 minutes of action, Towns had 15 points but on an absolutely salty 3-for-15 shooting.
Embiid’s size alone is enough to intimidate opposing players from making shots near the basket. According to NBA Stats, opponents are shooting 11.3 percent worse on shots taken less than six feet away from the rim when Embiid is on the floor.
Embiid will have another unicorn to face in the Sixers’ next game, as they host Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets this coming Monday. The Sixers have won the last two meetings with Denver.
