Getty Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers and LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers speak during the fourth quarter at Wells Fargo Center on December 09, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After a slow start to the season both individually and as a team, Philadelphia 76ers’ star Joel Embiid has returned to his elite level of play. The big man has been much more imposing on both sides of the ball in recent games and has been vital to the Sixers climbing back above .500 on the season. This has especially been the case over the past week in which Embiid was awarded an NBA Player of the Week award for his impressive effort.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 8 of the 2022-23 season (Dec. 5-11).
Embiid’s Recent Play
Over the past week, Embiid has averaged 43.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steal, and 1.0 block per game. The Sixers are 2-1 in these matchups and Embiid has shot an efficient 63.9% from the field which includes shooting 63.5% on two-point attempts and 66.7% from beyond the three-point arc.
This marks the second time this season Embiid has taken home the player of the week honors and the ninth time already in his career. It also is encouraging that this streak of strong play has occurred alongside James Harden who played in all three of the matchups this week. While Harden has not quite returned to his full health, as long as Embiid is playing at this level the Sixers will continue to find themselves with chances to win. The point guard also plays a valuable role in creating easy shots for the big man and finished the most recent victory over the Hornets with an impressive 16 assists.
Aided by the playmaking of Harden, Embiid’s performance against Charlotte was especially notable. The big man ended the matchup with 53 points which made him the first player in the NBA to have multiple 50+ point performances and only the third player in Sixers history to accomplish this in a season- joining Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson.
JOEL EMBIID joined AI & WILT as the only players in franchise history with multiple 50-PT games in the same season!
53 PTS, 12 REB (63% FG)
59 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST, 7 BLK (68% FG)
Embiid’s Outlook Moving Forward
While there has been plenty of talking points surrounding coaching, Harden’s play, and the rest of the complementary pieces- the bottom line is the Sixers will go as far as Embiid will take them. Oftentimes to a fault, Philadelphia follows his effort and energy level. When Embiid is locked in and playing up to his potential the Sixers look like a completely different team. However, ensuring this is the case on an every-game basis must be the goal for the big man.
This dependency from the team is the case for most stars around the NBA, but it feels the Sixers are especially reliant on Embiid. Per NBA.com, Embiid leads the league in usage rate at 37.4%. This is even more impressive considering the other players in the same tier as Embiid (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) don’t carry nearly the same defensive responsibility as the Sixers star. Antetokounmpo oftentimes found himself in this same discussion but the emergence of Brook Lopez, who is currently the favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, has eased the defensive strain on him.
16 Buckets in less than 90 Seconds –
Joel Embiid has 601 PTS in 645 Minutes this season …
The Sixers still have a ways to go in fully finding their identity as a team. However, Embiid will continue to be the biggest building block on both sides of the court. There is still over 65% of the season left before the postseason and plenty of time to iron out the mistakes that have shown face to start the season. You can never count out the team with Embiid playing at the superstar level he has made his norm and this should be the biggest reason to be positive about the Sixers moving forward.