Joel Embiid continues unstoppable stretch for 76ers

There really is no stopping Joel Embiid at the moment!

The Philadelphia 76ers big man is putting together the best stretch of basketball in his career and he didn’t let up in their 117-107 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, pouring in 42 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks at Wells Fargo Center.

With this win, the 76ers have won 12 of their last 15 games and their starting 7-foot big man has been at the center of this recent stretch. 

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Embiid has been on a monster tear and in January alone, he’s averaging 34.5 points per game, 10.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 blocks, highlighting how much the 76ers rely on him to win games. 

This is Embiid’s third 40-point game in his past four outings (he scored 38 in the other) and 14th 30-point performance in the last 15 games, taking his tally of 21 30-point games for the season which is second only to LeBron James’ 22. This is his third straight season with 20-plus 30-point games with his career-high tally of 29 coming in the 2018-19 season.

He also joins Allen Iverson as the only 76ers player to drop 25-plus points in 15 straight games. 

Tonight’s performance also marked his fifth-straight game where he’s had more points than minutes played and the fourth-straight game with at least 35 points and 10 rebounds. He joins Shaquille O’Neal & Anthony Davis as the only players to record that many since the 1976-77 merger, with only Karl Malone having more (5 in 1987-88).

These stats aside, he was once again huge for the 76ers down the stretch, scoring 12 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter to help them seal the win.

As of Jan. 25, he’s broken through into the MVP Ladder but still ranks behind the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic but as he continues his dominant stretch of play, watch out for his name to rise while the wins continue to pile up for Philadelphia.