The Philadelphia 76ers took their home floor Wednesday night, looking to bounce back from a lackluster performance against the Washington Wizards. Next up on their schedule was a meeting with Franz Wagner and the Orlando Magic.
At the end of the first half, things were not looking good for the Sixers. Thanks to an array of threes from Mo Bamba, Orlando found itself with a double-digit lead. The tides quickly changed in the second half after the Sixers outscored the Magic 47-23 in the third quarter. From there, they were able to coast to a 123-110 victory.
The star of the game was Sixers' center Joel Embiid. Following a 20-point first quarter, it was clear the All-Star center was going to have a big night. When all was said done, Embiid tied his career-high with 50 points.
Similar to his play for the past month and change, Embiid reminded everyone why he is one of the league's top talents. It took just 27 minutes for him to reach the 50-point mark, and he missed only six of his 23 shot attempts. Wednesday was by far one of the best showings of Embiid's entire career.
Following the win, players and coaches were quick to sing the praises of Embiid after such a dominant performance. First was Sixers head coach Doc Rivers, who was impressed with how quickly he was able to reach such a large scoring output.
“50 [points] in 27 [minutes], I think that is the most impressive. I played with Dominique [Wilkins], and I don't know if I've seen that. I've seen Dominique score more, but it took the whole game. That was easy, quick, efficient, and determined,” said Rivers.
Tobias Harris later spoke, and he too was impressed by how few shot attempts Embiid needed to match his career-high. He also mentioned this level of dominance is something we have seen all year from him.
“I mean, he's kind of been doing that all year. Tonight was just even more, obviously with 50 points. He's been our anchor all year. His dominance on the floor is evident pretty much from the second he jumps on the court and gets going. We expect that of him, and tonight you're just seeing a full-on effort. To be able to do it on 23 shots is extremely impressive,” the Sixers forward said postgame.
While it might be against a lowly opponent in the Magic, nothing should be taken away from this performance. Embiid set the tone early and never looked, carrying his team for a majority of the first half in the process. The efficiency and quickness he was able to rack up a large point total is something few superstars in the league are capable of doing.
Big outings like this are almost becoming a mundane thing for Embiid. He has maintained an other-worldly level of play and cemented the Sixers center into the conversation of best player in the NBA.
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