Joel Embiid appears to be slightly better at putting the ball in the basket than his former teammate.
The Philadelphia 76ers star Embiid went Vesuvius on the Utah Jazz over the weekend, erupting for 59 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks in a 105-98 victory for Philly. It was Embiid’s highest-scoring performance of his NBA career and made him just the third 76ers player ever to score 55 points or more in a game (along with Wilt Chamberlain and Allen Iverson).
After the game, an astonishing statistic about Embiid went viral (via StatMuse). With just his 59-point detonation alone, Embiid surpassed ex-co-star Ben Simmons’ point total for the entire 2022-23 season thus far (47).
Points:
59 — Joel Embiid tonight
47 — Ben Simmons this season pic.twitter.com/l7r3MbzjBs— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 14, 2022
More offensive explosions may be imminent for Embiid, who was last year’s scoring champion. Embiid went for 42 points in the 76ers’ previous game against the Atlanta Hawks the night before and is being asked to carry a mighty load with James Harden sidelined due to a foot injury.
As for Simmons, who was teammates with Embiid from 2016 to 2022, he was not nearly this M.I.A. in Philly, averaging 15.9 points per game in his 76ers career. But Simmons’ offensive game has completely evaporated into the Brooklyn breeze this season, as he has played in nine of 14 games and is putting up a mere 5.2 point average in the games that he does play. At least one concerning theory has emerged for why that is the case with Simmons.
