Joel Embiid ended the MVP debate with epic 52-point game against the Celtics
Joel Embiid officially ended the NBA MVP discussion when he dropped 52 points in a 103-101 win over the Boston Celtics. The big man went absolutely ballistic, scoring just over half of the 76ers points while missing only five shots all night.
Joel Embiid was on a heater in South Philly:
While it was a little too close for comfort at the end there, the MVP race should be anything but. Embiid once again showed his ability to score at will and play elite defense, all while receiving zero help outside of James Harden’s 20 and 10 for most of the game.
PJ Tucker coming alive in the fourth quarter absolutely helped seal the game for the Sixers, but without Embiid’s dominant performance on both ends, those would have been garbage time buckets for PJ in an ugly loss.
Doc Rivers even said it himself in the postgame press conference: “The MVP race is over. The man just scored half our points in an NBA game. I’m biased, but the MVP race is over.” The other guys on the roster just could not hit a shot, and Joel dragged them to a home victory over a team that’s had their number all year.
It’s not just a big win with impressive numbers either. Literally nobody has put up this stat line, which included two blocks, since Michael Jordan in 1992. This isn’t some fluke, Embiid is simply the best basketball player on the face of the earth.
If you missed the game or still hold hate in your heart for 22/23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid, I highly encourage you to watch tonight’s highlights back:
I‘m looking at you, Kendrick Perkins. Ya big dummy.
In all seriousness, I don’t even need the MVP voters to validate what I and every other Sixers fan know anymore. Joel Embiid is the MVP. If you don’t get it now, you probably never will.
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Mandatory Credit: TNT/Luke Arcaini
