The Philadelphia 76ers needed to beat the Boston Celtics this week. Not for their position in the East, but to prove things have changed. To show that their new star-studded team won’t enter the playoffs suffering from the exact same flaws that have always held them beneath the Celtics.
On Wednesday, Joel Embiid dominated with one of the best performances of his career to ensure that happened.
Embiid’s night doesn’t just stand out because of his numbers, although they were monstrous to say the least. He finished with 37 points (only needing 8-of-17 shooting thanks to his 20-of-21 barrage from the free throw line), a season-high 22 rebounds, four assists to a respectable three turnovers, one steal and one block for a joint team-high plus-12.