By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
The latest edition of NBA Sundays was a memorable one for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Embiid, 28, set his career-high at 59 points scoring 26 of his side’s 27 points in the fourth quarter. The incredible showing led to the 105-98 victory at home opposite the Utah Jazz Sunday. Also packing 11 rebounds, eight assists, and seven blocks, he registered the first 50-10-5-5 line since blocks became an official NBA stat in 1973-74.
“I’ve never seen a more dominating performance when you combine defense and offense,” commented head coach Doc Rivers.
Taking on more responsibilities with James Harden (foot) sidelined, he helped the Sixers improve from 4-5 to 7-7 over the last couple of weeks. Embiid averaged 33.7 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 0.7 steals per contest over four appearances in the stretch.
Making the brilliant performance even more interesting, Embiid is a candidate to play for France at the international level.
Turkish teammate Furkan Korkmaz was out with a left knee injury.
For the Jazz, Finnish Lauri Markkanen posted a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. Italian Simone Fontecchio stayed on the bench.
Besides Embiid, Darius Garland poured a career-high 51 points, including 27 in the fourth quarter, but the Cleveland Cavaliers lost, 129-124, to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Shaping the European portion of the NBA Sundays affair, French Rudy Gobert with a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double for the winning side and Turkish Cedi Osman with 14 points coming off the bench for the Cavs.
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