Joel Embiid played one of the best games in basketball history

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid delivered one of the most impressive performances in the history of the NBA and basketball in general. In the match in which the Philadelphians beat the San Antonio Spurs at home – 133:123, he scored 70 points, becoming the ninth player to reach this mark, and added many more useful actions to them.

After this match, which in America turned into a colossal event, one funny detail became clear. Joel Embiid got stuck in a traffic jam on the way to his club’s home arena and didn’t really have time to warm up before the game. But in the end, it ensured that he would go down in history, such an entry on his resume that, it seems, even the mark of awarding the prize to the most valuable basketball player of the previous regular season faded slightly against its background.

To appreciate the significance of Embiid’s achievement, you need to know that he found himself in tiny company. This mark – 70 points per game – has only been reached by eight NBA players before the 29-year-old center, who was born in Cameroon, has French citizenship, but recently opted for the US national team, the country where he has lived for a long time. . The Leader is an unconditionally iconic character. In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, also a center, scored exactly 100 points in a match with the New York Knicks. Well, or rather, it is believed that he dialed, because there is still no absolutely accurate documentary evidence of the number. But the NBA is confident of its authenticity.

Since then, no one has been able to encroach on Chamberlain’s record. Kobe Bryant came closest in 2006 with 81 points. The rest only slightly exceeded the 70-point mark, like Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers the previous season and Damian Lillard, then playing for the Portland Trail Blazers and moving to the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer.

Joel Embiid was constantly compared to Wilt Chamberlain after his performance. For an obvious reason: both the role is the same, and Chamberlain’s career is closely connected with Philadelphia. True, in 1962, strictly speaking, it was a different club – the Warriors, which later moved with its legend to San Francisco (now called the Golden State Warriors). But from California, Chamberlain returned to Philadelphia in 1965 – just to the Sixers – and played for them for several seasons. He didn’t reach 70 points in a match on this team, but 68, which he once scored more than half a century ago, remained a club record until Embiid fired.

Two circumstances add brilliance to his achievement. The first is that, unlike most conquerors of the 70-point mark, highly specialized snipers, in the meeting with San Antonio he noted a decent number of other useful actions recorded in the protocol. Embiid had 18 rebounds and five assists.

The second circumstance is even more remarkable. In fact, in this match, Joel Embiid did not spend much time on the court – 37 minutes (in the NBA the match lasts 48). Those who scored 70 points before him played longer – at least 39. But Embiid used his minutes extremely wisely.

Actually, the match with San Antonio perfectly showed why he was recognized as a real phenomenon, why in the past two seasons he won the title of the NBA’s strongest sniper and is confidently moving towards a third in a row. Embiid scored in every possible way – traditional for a 213 cm tall basketball player, from under the hoop, after a won fight or a competent opening, and after a technical pass, which he performs with amazing coordination for his size, no worse than other defenders, and from free throws, and, finally, even once after a long-range shot – he was also okay with three-pointers. And at the same time, as already mentioned, he did not forget about defensive responsibilities and helping his partners in attack.

Joel Embiid scored a deflected three-pointer late in the third quarter. After that, he scored 59 points – repeating his personal achievement. And a suspicion arose that new exploits should not be expected from Embiid for a trivial reason. “Philadelphia” has a decent lead over “San Antonio,” and in such situations, its coach Nick Nurse takes care of the leader, sitting him on the bench.

He put Joel Embiid there this time too. And there would not have been his 70 points, all this noise, if not for the suddenly revived San Antonio, which reduced the gap. We had to release Embiid again in the middle of the final quarter, and he immediately began to get the points missing to a beautiful figure. The audience, sensing that something grandiose was happening before their eyes, began to demand that the ball be given to their favorite in every attack and booed the unfortunate forward Daniel House, who threw an open three-pointer: according to the fans, he should have found Embiid anyway. But everything worked out as it should.

Alexey Dospehov