Waiting to crown his biggest dream, that of winning an NBA championship ring, Joel Embiid put together a vintage performance this Monday and, with his 70 points endorsed by the San Antonio Spurs, he established the new scoring record in history of the Philadelphia 76ers, by snatching it from the legendary Wilt Chamberlain (68).
Embiid scored 70 points on 24 of 41 field goals and 21 of 23 free throws, to which he added 18 rebounds and five assists, and led the 76ers to a 133-123 victory at home against the Spurs. The 29-year-old Cameroonian center and reigning NBA MVP took his game to another level and achieved a feat that has only been recorded fourteen times in NBA history.
Embiid scored 24 points in the first quarter (8 of 12 from the field) and had 34 at halftime, with ten rebounds. He returned to the court and stepped on the accelerator even more with 25 points in the third period and 10 of 15 shooting. In the fourth period practically all the balls went through his hands. Both his colleagues and the audience at the Wells Fargo Center wanted to see his leader complete his feat.
And they saw it. Embiid scored another eleven points, culminating with a tackle and two points off the board that allowed him to surpass Chamberlain. With 1.22 minutes left and the game under control, Nick Nurse took Embiid off the court and the crowd gave him a long ovation.
The Cameroonian center left behind Chamberlain’s scoring marks in Philadelphia. The former 76ers and Lakers player had scored 68 in 1967 and held the three best records in franchise history. In 1966 he had a 65-point performance and a 62-point performance. Allen Iverson was the 76ers player who had most recently come close to those records, with 60 points scored in 2005.
Embiid shattered his best mark, which was 59 points and dated back to November 2022. The Cameroonian now has eight performances above 50 points in his career. His monumental mark made the good performance of Frenchman Victor Wembanyama go almost unnoticed, who finished with 33 points and seven rebounds.
The 76ers sealed their sixth consecutive victory and put pressure on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference. Those from Philadelphia have a balance of 29 wins and thirteen losses.
It was a historic night for Embiid, who, however, has a much bigger challenge in mind, that of taking the 76ers to the Finals, in search of a ring that they have been missing since 1983. The 76ers have three NBA champion titles in its history: 1955, 1967 and 1983.
Last season, the Philadelphia team lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics in seven games.