Joel Embiid, Victor Wembanyama Trade Praise After 76ers' Win vs. Spurs
Monday night marked the first time San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama would match up with the MVP-winning big man, Joel Embiid.
Being that Wembanyama is the league’s No. 1 overall pick, the standout center is expected to lead the pack of a new generation of versatile bigs similar to Embiid.
On Monday, Wembanyama got a crack at one of the NBA’s most dominant centers and while the rookie had a solid showing for himself, Embiid notched a career-high in scoring, feasting on the court against San Antonio’s defense.
“It would have been more fun in a win, of course,” Wembanyama told reporters on Monday after going toe-to-toe with Embiid. “But it’s inspiring… inspiring, especially offensively.”
Embiid attempted 41 shots from the field on Monday. After a red-hot start to the game, scoring 24 points in 12 minutes, it was clear the big man was in a rhythm. Naturally, the Sixers kept feeding the ball to Embiid, and the seven-footer took advantage.
After scoring over 30 points in the first half alone, Embiid got off to a quick start in the third quarter to follow up. Successfully knocking down ten of his 15 shots from the field, Embiid tacked on another 25 points before entering the fourth quarter.
At that point, the Sixers’ center had tied his career-high of 59 points. Getting an early night off following a dominant three-quarter showing is nothing new to Embiid, but Monday couldn’t be one of those nights.
With the Sixers’ bench down several players and the Spurs within 15 points when the game entered the final quarter, Nick Nurse trotted Embiid out for another five minutes in the fourth quarter to ensure the Sixers came away with a win.
In the end, Embiid scored 70 points. It marked a career-high for the center and broke the 76ers’ franchise record for points in a single game.
“A few years back, it was more of a guard's game, but now it's come back to a big man's game,” Wembanyama explained. “If it didn't make sense in terms of the game, we’ve got guys. Some guys are all around the league who can do a lot of stuff despite being very tall, and it’s the way the game changes now. We’ve got to adapt.”
While Embiid’s game has overshadowed every other performance in Monday’s outing, Wembanyama certainly had a solid outing that didn’t go unnoticed. In 28 minutes of action, the big man shot 10-19 from the field. He also hit on 11 of his 12 free throws to produce 33 points.
“He’s great… He’s got everything,” Embiid said in regards to Wembanyama. “Size, skill, got everything. Nothing else to say. Bright future. He’s already pretty good, but once his body develops and his body also catches up, it’s going to be a lot of problems for a lot of guys in this league. He’s extremely talented.”
