Stopping Embiid Unlikely Saturday, Thunder Must Force Ball to Perimeter

Joel Embiid has been unstoppable for even the best teams in the league, OKC will now get a crack at the challenge.

Oklahoma City is tasked with doing something no team has been able to do this season on Saturday. Stop Joel Embiid.

Embiid is one of the top players in the league and an MVP candidate for this season. He’s consistently put up big numbers and is the key piece to Philadelphia’s 20-13 record.

Embiid’s averaging 33.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists. He’s the leading scorer in the NBA currently.

Even teams with great big men have been unable to stop the powerful force Embiid brings to the court.

The challenge is made even more difficult for OKC knowing Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl are both injured.

While neither of them have the size to consistently effectively stop Embiid down low, they are big pieces to OKC interior depth, something that is lacking even when they are healthy.

OKC will likely turn to rookie Jaylin Williams and Mike Muscala in the pain and it’s hard to imagine either of them will be able to successfully do something few have done.

In December, Embiid had just two games under 30 points. This month includes a 53 point outing and most recently a 48 point double-double on Tuesday.

Embiid has played 10 career games against the Thunder, in those he’s averaged 25.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Embiid hasn’t faced OKC since Feb. 2022 where he scored 25 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

The OKC struggles with size haven't been invisible this season. In OKC’s last outing the Hornets dominated with their size inside. PJ Washington scored 25 points, Mason Plumlee scored 14, Jalen McDaniels tabbed 12 and Mark Williams notched 17.

Williams added 13 rebounds to notch a double-double off of the bench. Williams was a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor. The game marked a career high in points and rebounds for the rookie center.

OKC will likely not stop Embiid but with the right sets and keeping him away from the rim they could limit his damage and force Philadelphia to run their offense through a different weapon.

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