Joel Embiid equalizes LeBron James' record streak, taking the 76ers to 8 games unbeaten
Joel Embiid continued to accelerate in the race to the title of MVP with an outstanding individual performance on Sunday morning, March 19. He and his Philadelphia 76ers teammates had an impressive victory with a score of 141-121 against the Indiana Pacers.
Despite "handicaping" the whole 4th half sitting on the bench because the match result was decided early, Embiid still had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists with a very high efficiency, reaching 10-15 FG the whole game.
Joel Embiid's sublime day helped the Philadelphia 76ers win their 8th consecutive victory, equaling the team's longest unbeaten streak in this year's tournament.
Not only making a collective mark and contributing to bringing the Philadelphia 76ers back to second place in the East (overtaking the Boston Celtics), Joel also achieved some remarkable individual achievements.
He just had the 9th game in a row to score more than 30 points, setting a team record and surpassing two legends, Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson.
Not stopping there, Embiid also achieved an even more impressive index, helping him go down in NBA history. This is the 7th consecutive game of the Cameroonian bigman with at least 30 points and an efficiency above 55% of FG.
Since 1954 when the tournament entered the shot-clock era (with a 24-second clock), only Joel Embiid and LeBron James have ever done this.
According to statistics site ESPN Stats & Info, James achieved a 7-match index with over 30 points with 55% of FG in 2013. Embiid has now equaled this achievement and can surpass the "king" in the next match. to monopolize the tournament record.
Against the Indiana Pacers, Joel Embiid showed a full range of offensive skills and made the opponent completely helpless to block. No one has the combination of bodybuilding and speed to take on Embiid in a 1-on-1 phase.
Myles Turner is probably the only opponent capable of stopping Joel, but the bigman Pacers also "completely lost their hands" before many of the scoring options that Embiid launched, from 3-pointers, near-baskets, dunks or all average throws.
In his historic seven-game streak, Joel Embiid averaged 37.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.0 blocks per game. At the same time, it is extremely efficient, reaching 64.9% FG and 44.4% 3PT.
Thanks to this series and a series of 8 consecutive victories, Embiid is gradually closing the gap with Nikola Jokic in the race to the MVP title.
If you consider the Denver Nuggets are plunging with 5 defeats in the last 6 matches, Joel may have been slightly better than "The Joker" in this sprint.
