On the shoulders of the giant: Joel Embiid's dominance makes France dream / News - Basketnews.com

Joel Embiid scored 101 points in the two games against the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Jazz. Against the Jazz, he made his new career-high of 59 points. His stellar performances keep the Sixers alive and make France dream about pairing him with Victor Wembanyama.

Credit: USA TODAY Sports/Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports/Scanpix

After the defeat on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers were 5-7 while continuing to struggle in the first part of the regular season. The team coached by Doc Rivers looked uninspired both offensively and defensively, starting to raise some concerns about the ability of his team to bounce back from such a poor start.

Joel Embiid

Team:Philadelphia 76ersPosition:CAge:28Height:213 cmWeight:113 kgBirth place:Yaounde, CameroonProfileNewsStatistics

Then, Joel Embiid happened. In back-to-back games, the Sixers big man was absolutely unstoppable and led his team to two wins in a row. Against the Atlanta Hawks, Embiid finished with 42 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

After the game, Embiid revealed that he had tweaked his ankle during the game and was feeling discomfort in his shoulders, explaining that every single time he tried to go for a block, he felt a lot of pain.

Despite the pain, Embiid went back on the court less than 24 hours later to play against the Utah Jazz. With James Harden still out due to a foot injury, the Sixers couldn't afford to rest Embiid while they're trying to bounce back after a slow season start.

Until a few years ago, playing both games of back-to-backs would have been almost impossible for Embiid.

After missing the first two seasons due to a very delicate foot fracture and dealing with the pain caused by the death of his younger brother Hans, the Sixers priority was to protect Embiid at all costs.

The 76ers managed his minutes over the course of the season and saved him from the fatigue of a back-to-back.

The Cameroon-born player never liked that, but for a while, he was forced to put on a good face. He has always been an extremely competitive player, but the concerns for his long-term health have often hidden this aspect of his personality.

However, last week we were all witnesses of that competitiveness and outstanding talent. In the game against the Utah Jazz, Embiid finished with 59 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, 7 blocks, and 1 steal in 37 minutes on the court.

Joel Embiid

MIN:35.39PTS:32.25 (63.92%)REB:10.08As:4.58ST:0.83BL:1.75TO:4.42GM:12ProfileNBA2022/2023

The Sixers star became the first player in NBA history to record 50-plus points, 10 rebounds, five-plus assists, and five-plus blocks in a game since the 1973-74 season.

Only two players in the history of the Sixers have scored more points than Embiid in a single game: Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain. Not a bad company.

The performance against the Jazz also represented a new career-high in scoring for Embiid. In the end, the Sixers won the game 105-98, and trust me, they needed every single Embiid bucket in order to do so.

The game was extremely close, and without that type of performance from Embiid, the Sixers would have probably lost the game.

"I've never seen a more dominating performance when you combine offense and defense," Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said after the game against Utah.

It's hard to fault Doc Rivers on this one. Embiid literally dragged the Sixers to victory. The rest of the team's supporting cast hardly made a decisive contribution.

Tyrese Maxey ended the game with 18 points but had to take 24 shots to get to that number. Tobias Harris, the team's other main offensive part, scored 8 points on 12 shots from the field.

The Sixers, in general, had a terrible night on 3-point shooting, finishing with a lousy 4/23. In the 11 minutes, Embiid was not on the court, and the Sixers trailed by 18 points. All of which further underscores the majesty of the long Cameroonian's performance and how crucial it was to the team's victory.

However, Embiid's amazing night against the Jazz wasn't only on the offensive end. Defensively speaking, the big man also greatly impacted his team.

Every single time that the Jazz tried to get to the rim, Embiid was there waiting for them. His ability to protect the rim was on full display against Utah.

In the last quarter, Embiid had 5 blocks in 11 minutes. Since the injury of James Harden, the Sixers have improved defensively massively.

After a very poor start of the season on the defensive end, especially when it came to the transition defense, Philadelphia, in the past two weeks, has been the second-best defense in the league.

"To me, it was bigger than all the points he scored. The big things he did on defense, he communicated better today," Sixers forward PJ Tucker said after the win against the Jazz.

Embiid had to deal with a very annoying plantar fasciitis during the offseason, which troubled most of his summer work. In the first few games of the season, it was pretty clear that Embiid wasn't in the best condition, and the issues in the transition defense were also related to his lack of conditioning.

The big man then was forced to miss multiple games due to the flu. Despite these problems, Embiid is averaging 32.3 points per game (second-best league scorer) with 10.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists.

In the span of only 24 hours, he had 101 points in the two games against the Hawks and the Jazz.

At the end of the game against Utah, Lauri Markkanen had the chance to shoot two free throws that could have cut Jazz's deficit to only three points with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Embiid approached Markkanen and started to talk to him. After the game, Embiid revealed that he wanted Markkanen to miss the free throws, so he told him a lie about his son Arthur.

"I kind of lied because Arthur was already sleeping. I told him, "I have to put Arthur to sleep, and you have to miss these free throws, so we don't go to the overtime," Embiid explained. "I did lie because Arthur goes to sleep every day at 7:30; his mother doesn't play around."

It was Embiid's perfect night so, naturally, Markkanen missed both free throws.

The Sixers still need to improve offensively if they want a real shot in the playoffs. As of today, the 76ers are +1800 (19.00) in odds to win the NBA championship.

They cannot always count on Embiid bailing them out in every game. During the season, the big man will need some rest from time to time, and the team needs to find alternatives along the road.

When Harden is back, offensively, some of those issues will go away, but changes via trade cannot be ruled out.

Shams Charania of The Athletic already reported that the Sixers had conversations with other teams about the possibility of trading Tobias Harris. The 30-year-old forward has another year left on his contract, worth more than $39 million.

For international fans, the recent streak of amazing performances by Embiid has revived interest in seeing him at work in a FIBA context. This summer, Embiid received a French passport, and when FIBA gives the clearance, the big man will be able to play for the French national team.

Boris Diaw, who's now the general manager of the French national team, recently confirmed his confidence in the possibility of Embiid representing the French national team.

"Yes, I'm confident that Joel will play for France. He doesn't have the FIBA license yet. But it would be nice if he could have it and play for the national team," Diaw stated.

The Philadelphia 76ers' big man also recently received USA citizenship, and some reporters in the USA have reported that Team USA will try to convince Embiid to represent the USA at the international level.

But Diaw is convinced that Embiid got American citizenship only for personal reasons and not for sporting ones.

"The American nationality is something we knew for quite some time. It's more to make his living in the United States easier," Diaw explained.

The prospect of having a frontcourt made up of Embiid, Gobert, Wembanyama, and other prominent pieces such as Yabusele, Poirier, and Fall is something that would immediately make France a leading candidate to win both the next World Cup and play for a medal at the 2024 Olympics that will be hosted in Paris.

While the Sixers keep working to find the right balance between offense and defense, they can rest assured Joel Embiid will carry the team on his shoulders as long as necessary.

In the meantime, the French national team can do nothing but dream of adding one of the most dominant players in the entire NBA to an already incredibly deep and talented roster.

Soon, it will also rely on what is widely seen as the NBA's next absolute star: Victor Wembanyama.

It's time to stand on the shoulders of giants.

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