Inside Joel Embiid's dominant 70-point performance

It takes a hyperbolic level of greatness for a basketball player to be so good that his home team’s fans would boo his teammate for simply taking an open shot. 63 points into Joel Embiid’s 70-point classic, Danuel House Jr. received Philadelphia’s only complaint of the night for launching what would normally be considered a quality look.

Before someone turns that snapshot into negative commentary on Philadelphia, let’s discuss what it actually says about the 20 thousand Philadelphians in attendance. No matter how many great players had wowed this town in the past — they have seen Wilt and the Doctor and Chuck and The Answer — the screaming locals knew that this moment and this player were worth nothing short of full reverence. From the paid customers to the clickety clackers on press row to the guys flanking Embiid on the floor, there would be no exceptions.

Message received. On the very next possession, Embiid stepped into a pull-up jumper for points 64 and 65.

Channeling those proud locals, Tyrese Maxey stood at his locker after the game and appealed to the basketball public. Savor what you are watching, he said, because these guys don’t come around too often.

“We cannot take this for granted. Not just as teammates, not as an organization, but as fans, even if you’re not a fan of Philadelphia. You’re just a fan of basketball. Can’t take Jo for granted, man. What he’s doing right now is special,” Maxey said following the game. “He’s not just doing it off layups, not doing it off just threes, he’s doing it off every single thing. Doing so much out there, and the kicker is on the other end, he’s anchoring the defense as well. Not taking any nights off on defense. We appreciate him, and everyone else should appreciate him as well.”

Let the congregation say amen.

If the point has not been made clear yet, this level of night-to-night dominance is basically unprecedented. As of Tuesday, Embiid is scoring more points per 36 minutes than any player in any season in pro basketball history. He is outpacing Wilt Chamberlain’s 50-point-per-game season, outpacing heliocentric Houston James Harden, outpacing apex Micheal Jordan and Steph Curry and Kobe and Gervin and Skywalker, and on and on down the line. It is, if sustained, the greatest scoring season ever.

And yet, nothing about this performance felt preordained. Embiid showed up to the arena later than usual, missing his usual warmup time around 45 minutes before tip-off. Embiid’s journey to the arena had not gone as planned, so his battle with rising star Victor Wembanyama would have to take place without the benefit of pregame reps.

He may have proven he doesn’t need them. 24 of Embiid’s 70 came in the first 12 minutes, in what might be the best summation of his all-encompassing dominance we’ve ever had. Each piece of Embiid’s game was in focus for a moment or more — it started with three free throws earned by baiting Julian Champagnie, pivoted to a midrange assault over Victor Wembanyama, and featured an inspired run on the glass, with Embiid ragdolling poor Zach Collins when Wembanyama hit the bench.

The matchup with Wembanyama was reasons one, two, and three to tune into this game, and the Frenchman certainly gave it his best effort. Nick Nurse was even taken aback watching Wembanyama saunter onto the floor, having grown accustomed to Embiid overshadowing every man he stands across from.

“I’m sitting on the bench and usually I can see Joel being over everybody, and there’s clearance. I said that early in the game, like hey, tonight’s the first night Joel actually has to go over everybody,” Nurse said. “That’s different.”

Be that as it may, it didn’t do Wembanyama much good. Opinions varied afterward, but the Sixers mostly agreed that they sensed what was happening coming out of the halftime tunnel.

The opening stretch of the third highlighted how hard the task in front of the rookie was. When Wembanyama tried to drop back and avoid getting caught on reach-ins, Embiid rose and shot over him. When the skinnier man tried to meet Embiid chest-to-chest — or perhaps chest-to-shoulder — he buckled from the force vibrating through his torso. Too proud to flop, and bless him for that, Wembanyama was moved out of the way with extreme prejudice.

Embiid, never one to rest on his laurels, opined that he actually left points on the table during his battles with Wemby. This claim came — as if you needed a reminder — in a game where he scored 70 points.

“I don’t know what I was doing, honestly. Half of the time instead of just shooting the ball I was taking my time and wasting time when I could have caught the ball and shot it,” Embiid said. “I was actually mad at myself because missed a lot of easy shots I’ve been making all season. A lot of easy pull, lot of pocket-pass jumpers that I missed.”

As the night wore on, the concern became less about Embiid’s ability to keep scoring and more about how long they could justify playing him. A turnaround three in the dying embers of the third quarter brought him to 59 points, equalling his career high coming into the night. With Philadelphia up 15 heading into the final period, everyone watching the game was left to wonder: was that all we get?

Even Embiid’s teammates felt a sense of conflict about what could happen in those five or six minutes to open the fourth. Winning was and is priority one, a point driven home by Minnesota losing on Monday despite 62 points from Karl-Anthony Towns. But Maxey admitted that the opportunity in front of his teammate had the point guard second-guessing how to approach it, hoping the game would warrant a return to the floor for No. 21.

“I literally had that in the back of my mind. I didn’t want it to be like, us to get too much separation where he couldn’t come back in and break the record. But we also had to keep the lead,” Maxey said. “There’s a fine line between both. I think we did a good job of playing out there and stopping them a few times and keeping the lead in a respectful manner.”

A roar echoed through Wells Fargo Center when the big man crept toward the scorer’s table with 6:38 left, one away from his career high and 10 away from the all-time Sixers record. Go as far and as fast as you can, the crowd implied, because we’re with you for this ride no matter where it ends.

And suddenly — there’s a spin move into Jeremy Sochan, earning him free throws for 60 and 61. Two consecutive pull-up jumpers put Allen Iverson’s career high in his rearview. A flagrant on Blake Wesley for one more point at the line, and the drama heightens. Suddenly, a score that begins with 6 just wouldn’t do, nor would falling short of Chamberlain’s franchise record of 68.

But if you want to understand how a kid who picked up the game as a teenager became one of the greats, watch the moment after Embiid scored his layup to hit 70, an easy finish Embiid deposited over Keldon Johnson. Rather than allowing himself to savor the moment, a moment he had more than earned, Embiid turned and down the floor, yelling and gesturing to teammates how he needed them to set up defensively. If another personal achievement had come at the expense of maintaining the lead, well, that wouldn’t do.

“The only thing I told my teammates was, ‘Please don’t force it,'” Embiid said afterward. “Let’s just play basketball. We were just trying to play the right way.”

One of the men who taught him to do so, Brett Brown, embraced Embiid following the game, walking from his spot on San Antonio’s bench to greet the big man, Robert Covington, and Furkan Korkmaz, the only holdovers from his time in Philly. Embiid made sure to give Brown his flowers afterward, noting that his legacy goes beyond what you’ve seen between the lines.

“He taught me a lot, not just on the basketball side, off the court too. Maturing, he was a big part of it,” Embiid said. “He’s done a lot not just for me but the whole city of Philadelphia. When you think about everything that happened, the losing seasons, and to still come out on top and have the success that he had, that’s pretty cool…but I’m kind of glad I did it in front of him, so he can kind of see the product of what he created.”

Receiving a less diplomatic response was Drew Hanlen, trainer to the basketball stars, who FaceTimed his star pupil from parts unknown to celebrate another career milestone with him. Embiid, perhaps summoning the feeling of a hard workout in the past, let him have it.

“I never want to hear shit from you again,” Embiid laughed before calling over fellow pupil Maxey to say hello.

Perhaps Embiid will get to deliver that message to a broader audience at the end of this year if the stars can align for a healthy playoff run and the right supporting talent to help him climb the mountaintop. Playoff dominance is the last thing standing between Embiid and inner-circle greatness. He seems more aware of that than anyone, giving more guarded answers in public while reframing awards talk as a billboard on the road toward the real goal.

Which is why, when D-House drew boos for that harmless fourth-quarter shot, Embiid made sure to laugh with his teammate about it afterward. He is aware that he might need every one of these guys to get 16 wins between mid-April and mid-June, and that a few words of support from their leader can make a difference.

Just ask House yourself.

“We won the game, team happy, Jo did something magical tonight,” House said. “I’m going home happy as hell. That’s all that really matters.”