Philadelphia 76ers superstar big man Joel Embiid had himself a monster night, finishing with 40 points and 21 rebounds on Friday. However, even this wasn't enough to propel Philadelphia to a win, as they succumbed to the Indiana Pacers, 113-101, at home.
Following the heartbreaking defeat, Embiid said that he might need to put up Wilt Chamberlain-type numbers next time for them to come out on top.
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That's a pretty lofty standard right there. But if that's what's going to take for Philadelphia to win, then they are going to have a difficult time to take the next step if they want to be regarded as legitimate title contenders.
Embiid wowed the hometown crowd in a scintillating first half of scoring, dropping 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The Cameroonian center also did his damage in the last five minutes in the first have, going on a 14-point scoring outburst to help Philadelphia secure a 10-point edge at the half.
But the Pacers used a 31-18 third quarter to put them ahead by three heading into the final canto. The momentum they built in the third carried over in the fourth quarter, as the Pacers simply outclassed the Sixers in the second half, 64-42.
Nonetheless, Philadelphia was missing its two-way forward Jimmy Butler in this one, but of course, the All-Star big man won't take this as an excuse.
Still, this is the kind of mindset the Sixers need from their franchise player. Despite having an outstanding individual performance, none of that seemed to matter to him given that they didn't come out with the win.