When Sixers star Joel Embiid scored 30-plus points for a 21st consecutive game on Monday, he didn’t just eke past that threshold — he more than doubled it, eclipsing Wilt Chamberlain‘s franchise record of 68 points by racking up an eye-popping 70 in a victory over San Antonio, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
The performance increased Embiid’s season-long scoring average to 36.1 points per game. James Harden (2018/19) is the only other player to average that many points in a single season since Michael Jordan did it in 1986/87.
Having already missed 10 games in 2023/24, Embiid isn’t a lock to reach the 65-game minimum required to qualify for end-of-season awards. But as long as he plays enough, he looks like the clear frontrunner to win a second consecutive MVP award.
“I keep telling everybody, we cannot take this for granted,” Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey said. “Not just as teammates, not as an organization, but as fans … even if you’re not a fan of Philadelphia, if you’re just a fan of basketball, you can’t take Jo for granted, man. What he’s doing right now is special.
“… He’s doing so much out there. And you know, the kicker is he’s on the other end, he’s anchoring the defense as well. He’s not taking any nights off on defense. So, you know, we appreciate him, and everybody else should appreciate him, as well.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Dave Joerger, who spent three seasons on Doc Rivers‘ staff in Philadelphia, is receiving consideration to join the Bucks as an assistant, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Rivers and Bucks general manager Jon Horst are expected to work together to finalize any additions to Milwaukee’s coaching staff, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT.
- Examining the Terry Rozier trade between the Heat and Hornets, John Hollinger of The Athletic wonders if this deal is a sign that there won’t be any blockbuster trades completed at the deadline. As Hollinger explains, Miami’s front office typically prefers to use its assets to go star-hunting on the trade market, so if the the Heat were willing to give up a first-round pick for Rozier, they may have felt as if no impact players will become available at the 11th hour.
- Elsewhere at The Athletic, Jared Weiss and William Guillory take a closer look at what the Heat‘s Rozier acquisition means for the teams at the top of the East. As The Athletic’s duo points out, there’s a good deal of overlap between Rozier’s and Tyler Herro‘s skill sets, so it may be a challenge to play them together in the postseason when their relative lack of size makes them susceptible to being hunted on defense.
- In a comprehensive Insider-only story for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks breaks down the trade deadline for the 15 Eastern Conference teams, outlining the assets at their disposal and what sorts of deals might make sense for each club.
Embiid is averaging more points per minute (1.05 points per minute) than Wilt did in his 50 ppg season (1.04 points per minute) right now. He’s basically on Wilt’s pace, just playing 34 minutes instead of 48+. Crazy.
I’m pretty sure the trade means Herro is getting traded.
As I’ve said, as a Heat fan, who also has a long time affinity for Rozier, I don’t like the trade for multiple reasons, but I’ll hold out full judgment until I see what happens with Herro, etc. Maybe I’m wrong, but in that case, I don’t think this deal makes sense
Who is trading for herro? Lol
Scorers that don’t play any defensive and are on big deals get virtually nothing in return on the trade market.
Herro and Lavine are similar players and nobody is even calling about Lavine. Sure herro is slightly cheaper, but Lavine has also done more in this league and is a better scorer.
Miami isn’t getting sh** for herro lol
You aren’t saying anything I haven’t said for a long time, but there are a cool teams that could potentially use the spacing/scorer around their playmaking/defense, and there have been something parts, so it doesn’t mean he can’t be moved at all. I think getting help in certain areas is what matters, not necessarily getting names back
Otherwise, how do you justify the Rozier deal? You’re pairing him with Herro? How does that make sense? It makes more sense to think it’s predicated on the idea Herro will be moved himself. The Heat otherwise wouldn’t be making a move of trading a pick, as well as Lowry to get something they don’t need/doesn’t fit
To be mentioned in the same sentence as Wilt. Is huge …… to break his Sixer record. That’s monumental.
I guess Embiid wanted to send a message. To the New Generational big …..
Oh and where are all !!!!!!! the
The Big Man is dead in the new NBA…
If the “traditional point guard” is dead, then the “traditional big man” is also dead
(I think both terms are bs, but ppl insist on making traditional pg a thing)
Traditional PG just means a pass first guy that can’t really shoot and score 10-14 pts per game with 7+ assists and a steal. So, Rubio basically. It’s not a dead concept, but those guys just bounce from team to team thinking oh his shooting has to improve but never does.
Nobody ever said anything about Embiid. He was always 1 of the handful of exceptions. Also, it’s not necessarily bigs, it’s bigs that only do certain things, and not other things that matter. Size matters significantly across the board, not just as a big, and guys with size that can do everything is still the future, and it’s becoming more frequent already, with several bigger guys playing at PG in certain lineups
Embiid was alway amazing. First time I saw him that year I was forced to watch a lot of college basketball, he reminded me of Kareem, Chris Bosh, and a little bit of Hakeem. That amazing trade they made put the missing pieces around him, and they have a coach that knew how to use his rotations his first 2 years in the league, even though he completely fell off in that area afterwards, it still means he does have the ability to put guys in the right spots, unlike the guy they’ve had there the last couple of years
Got to give Embiid credit…forget about stats, this guy absolutely carries this team. Maxey is so quick and definitely shows great promise but is still not totally consistent, the rest of the team are really over achieving and are at best standard role players… If only eventually this organisation could find some great role players or starters who are consistent… I feel sorry for him…..