Joel Embiid scores 70 points in instant classic vs. Spurs

Joel Embiid scored 70 points to break the single-game franchise record of 68 set by Wilt Chamberlain, leading the Sixers to a 133-123 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Here’s what I saw.

The Good

— Joel Embiid has been a dominant first-half player for basically his entire career. But 24 points in the first quarter? Really?

The much-ballyhooed matchup with Victor Wembanyama certainly had some juice. San Antonio’s special rookie hit two pull-up threes to open his account for the evening, minutes after giving Embiid the cold shoulder during the lead-up to the game. And Embiid wasn’t going to back down or change his usual scoring process, even with Wembanyama posing a threat to his midrange jumpers.

Unfortunately for San Antonio, Wembanyama picked up a silly second foul on a Kelly Oubre drive, setting Embiid up for a battle with poor Zach Collins for the rest of the quarter. He had 13 when the Spurs went to their backup option, and found his way to 11 more with Collins doing his best to hang on for dear life.

While Embiid is perfectly capable of killing Collins in isolation, what he did instead was trust his ability to dominate Collins on the glass. Furkan Korkmaz missed a couple of shots around the hoop in a first-quarter cameo, and Embiid was already there waiting for the second-chance opportunity. There were some Moses Malone-type moments where Embiid put one up on the glass, immediately attacked the miss, and then went up for the score on the third shot of the possession. We haven’t seen him play like that during his recent dominant stretch, but it’s a reminder of how many ways he has to beat you.

Give Wembanyama this — you could see Embiid doubting himself a few times throughout the game, on catches around the elbows he would probably fire immediately against most defenders. But Wemby’s length caused him to jab step and wait out an opportunity he felt more comfortable with. Wembanyama couldn’t go step for step or shot for shot with Embiid, but he played with no fear, and I respect that he stared down the reigning MVP and did whatever he could to make him work.

Eventually, though, the elder statesman decided enough was enough. Embiid made damn sure to remind Wembanyama how big the gap between them is currently. When he wanted to throw his weight around, Wembanyama had no chance to stop him from getting to the basket, with Embiid throwing some mean shoulders into Wemby’s chest before bringing the funk to the rim:

With Embiid rolling, the Spurs hung around through a combination of early three-point shooting and undisciplined defense from Philly, and the Sixers smartly decided they were going to keep playing through the guy who had 40 points with over nine minutes left in the third quarter. The third quarter was the point when Embiid (and to their credit, his teammates) sensed that the big dude was in the middle of something special. Whenever there was even a sliver of space to get him the ball, they were throwing rocket passes into him with Wemby on his hip.

As the lead swelled and it looked like the big guy might have his night cut short, you could argue the most impressive piece of Embiid’s night was how he responded as he inched closer to hallowed numbers in the second half. The Spurs threw the kitchen sink at him with coverages and bodies, sending double teams, triple teams, zone, and whatever they could think of to try to take him out of his groove. And aside from one possession of tunnel vision in the two-for-one spot late in the third, he seemed to make the right read every time, finding shooters and cutters for great looks when he wasn’t putting it in the hoop himself. Even during that run of playmaking, he found a way to close the third quarter with a personal bang, dropping a turnaround three in Zach Collins’ grill to bring the home crowd to their feet.

Good fortune struck for everyone in attendance: the Sixers failed to pull away in the fourth quarter minutes without the big guy, setting him up for one final run of dominance. Everyone in the building sensed what a special moment this was, rising to their feet with applause before Embiid had so much as walked toward the scorer’s table. In a flash, he turned it into his first 60+ game ever, spinning through poor Jeremy Sochan for free throws that put him on 60 and 61 points respectively.

The only thing in doubt as the clock ticked toward zero was how high he could climb in the scoring history books. Two consecutive pull-up jumpers pushed him to 65 points, bringing the fans in attendance to a permanent standing position for the rest of the game. Jeremy Sochan, bless his heart, had no chance to bother any of his attempts from the midrange area he has made his home.

In the end, it was a layup for Embiid that pushed him to tje 70-point threshold, and that was when the Sixers decided to call off the massacre. When it was all said and done, he had broken Wilt Chamberlain’s franchise record for points in a game, and he added 18 rebounds plus five assists to really send the point home.

Here’s the craziest part — for reasons I’ll have to track down later, Embiid never took the floor for his usual pregame shooting session 45 minutes before the game. He cooked up a stone-cold classic anyway, casual as you’d like. Nobody doing it better in the world right now.

— Does anyone else even warrant a blurb following that sort of performance from Embiid? If so, let me talk about Nic Batum.

It was yet another game showcasing Batum’s value on a team that needs versatility from their role players above all else. On one possession, he might be fronting Wembanyama in the post and poking the ball away for a steal. On the other end, he has turned into one of the team’s most impactful offensive rebounders, slithering into tight spaces for tip-outs that have real purpose (seriously, there is purpose behind each tip to the perimeter). His propensity for silly fouls showed up again on Monday, but the one or two of those per game are washed out by his work to squeak out extra possessions for Philly by any means necessary.

A role player in his mid-30s who has admitted to slowing down should have no real chance to beat a young, athletic (and pretty big!) team like the Spurs to repeated rebound opportunities.

— I thought Tyrese Maxey had a nice game, and it warms my heart to see a point guard recognize when his teammate is on fire, doing everything in their power to get that person the ball. Maxey’s stats have definitely not suffered playing next to Embiid. But the handful of games where he’s slid into a passenger role with Embiid cooking show you a lot about who he is as a person/player. He cares about the right stuff, which includes letting teammates shine at the expense of his own numbers.

The Bad

— How much of San Antonio’s first half was about quality shotmaking vs. poor defense?

— I will push back on the greatness of Embiid’s first half just slightly because there have been some stretches of tunnel vision lately. Hardly anyone else was involved with Embiid on the floor in the first half, and while he justified that with a dominant performance, that’s a hard way to live as a group.

That being said, Embiid made attempts to playmake for others that failed for reasons that had nothing to do with him. He hit Batum for an open three one pass away that his teammate clanged off the iron, only for Embiid to swoop in for the loose change. Kelly Oubre had a great opportunity on a cut along the baseline, with Embiid hitting him for what looked like a sure bucket, only for Oubre to miss the dunk. And there were other examples, too, but those ones jumped out because of the chance quality.

Suffice it to say that Embiid could have spread the wealth more, and his teammates could have made better use of their opportunities.

— Kelly Oubre is quickly running out of whatever goodwill he created with his play to start the season. I can’t remember the last time he was able to string together even three straight quarters of productive basketball. Don’t count on him as a guaranteed playoff rotation guy.

The Ugly

— Embiid and Oubre have had at least 2-3 plays this year where one guy in the partnership was flabbergasted that the other guy didn’t give them the ball. It was Embiid’s turn on Monday night, with the big guy shocked that Oubre ignored him in a give-and-go opportunity instead of getting fouled.

And on this one, I’ll take Oubre’s side! He had a good opportunity to get to the rim and drew a foul on the drive. You’ll take that any day.

— Danuel House Jr. brings a lot of joy to my life as a colorful character in the locker room, but when the guy who is threatening to score 60+ has chances to score in the dying moments of the third, it is not your time to go barrelling into multiple defenders in transition. The basketball gods will have a word with you at some point, sir.