The Philadelphia 76ers stormed back from a 21-point deficit late in the first half to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-119 at The Well last night. 

Joel Embiid scored 39 points and delivered a dagger with 1.1 seconds left on the clock to secure the win for the Sixers. Embiid shook off a double-team from Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard to drain a fadeaway jumper from just beyond the foul line, giving the Sixers their first lead of the game with just over a second left on the clock. 

EMBIID WITH THE DAGGER 🗡️

The Sixers were down 20 points at halftime with Embiid being the only Sixers player to score in double digits as the team headed into the locker room for the break. The Sixers ended the game outscoring Portland 35-23 in the fourth quarter to steal the win from the Blazers. James Harden finished the game with 19 points, while Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton both added 13 points to help the Sixers deliver a comeback win. 

“Down 20, guys could have been saying the game is over and we moved on to the next one,” Embiid said. “But these guys keep on fighting. But we have to stop putting ourselves in these position.” via ESPN

To go along with 39 points, Embiid added seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and three blocks to the stat sheet marking the 23rd time this season he has scored 35+ points. 

The only two centers to reach such a feat since the NBA merger have been Moses Malone and Shaq and what do you know? They both won the NBA MVP Award during that season where they accomplished such a feat. 

JOEL EMBIID: 39 PTS | 4 AST | 3 BLK | 2 STL | 1 DAGGER

Embiid casually scoring 30+ points every night has almost diluted how hard that is to actually do in the NBA. On the season, he’s now averaging 33.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting nearly 54% from the floor, 36% from beyond the arc and 85% from the free throw line. 

You can argue all you want about who the “real MVP” of the NBA is on social media. Quite frankly, I do not care at all. Here in Philadelphia, we are all witnesses and as Embiid stated over and over again this season, he’s done caring about the awards and would rather focus on staying healthy and winning playoff games, which obviously is the only thing that really matters. 

Anyways, the Sixers improved to 44-22 on the season. They are winners of four straight games and sit four games back from the East-leading Bucks and 1.5 games behind the second place Boston Celtics. 

They’ll remain home for one more game against the Washington Wizards on Sunday night. 

📹 Sixers vs Trailblazers | 03.10.23

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