76ers’ Joel Embiid Matches Feat Only Achieved by LeBron James in NBA History
Sixers center Joel Embiid is in the midst of the best season of his esteemed career, averaging a league-leading 33.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. It is the second consecutive year he is the league-leader in scoring average and the sixth straight season that he is averaging a double-double.
His consistent 30-point scoring has peaked in March. Embiid scored 31 points Saturday against the Pacers, marking the seventh straight game in which he scored over 30 points on at least 55% shooting. That streak is historic, as it tied LeBron James for the longest such stretch in the NBA since the implementation of the shot clock in 1954.
Saturday’s game also marked Embiid’s ninth consecutive game with more than 30 points, a streak no Sixers player had previously accomplished. The center surpassed Hall of Famers Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain, who each maxed out at eight straight games with that many points.
If Embiid continues to score at his average of 33.5 points per game, he will register one of the top 20 scoring seasons in NBA history. Since 2000, only two players have had better seasons by points per game: Kobe Bryant in 2005-06 and Embiid’s current teammate, James Harden, who accomplished the feat twice with the Rockets in 2019 and ’20.
With the win over Indiana, along with the Celtics’ loss to the Jazz, the Sixers moved ahead of Boston by percentage points for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, Philadelphia is now just two games back of the Bucks for the top spot.
