Joel Embiid carries the Sixers against Denver
The Sixers, despite 15 units behind at the break, beat the Nuggets (126-119) on Saturday in the NBA, carried by Joel Embiid, stratospheric with 47 points, who manhandled Nikola Jokic and marked the spirits in the fight for the MVP trophy.
The Serbian pivot (24 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) who retained his title of best player in the League last year at the expense of the Cameroonian naturalized French then American – these two countries are praying to inherit his talents for the 2023 Worlds and the 2024 Olympics -, could not do anything against this rival who made him see all the colors during an irresistible second period.
Message to the competition
Embiid managed 28 of his 47 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters, adding 18 rebounds to his bag (completed with 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks). He almost single-handedly reversed the course of a badly started match since the Nuggets were ahead from the 40th second to five minutes from time.
Determined to send a message to Jokic and the rest of the competition, in the race for the league’s best player trophy, but also to the fans, who preferred Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum to compose the line of interiors in the All-Star Game five type, Embiid didn’t just inflate the stats.
He put a lot of shots above Jokic naturally came to defend on him. And in the 3rd quarter, he managed the action of the match, first dribbling between the legs, before crossing the next one to put his opponent in the wind and accelerate to the dunk by turning around under the circle .
In the shadow of this duel, James Harden contributed to the Sixers’ 7th straight success (17 points, 13 rebounds) and Jamal Murray was an offensive engine for the Nuggets (22 points), who conceded a second setback. rank.
