Joel Embiid drops career-high 59 points in historic showing to lead 76ers past Jazz
Joel Embiid went off on Sunday night.
The 76ers' star big man scored a career-high 59 points in Philadelphia's 105-98 win over the Utah Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center, nearly half of which he put up in the fourth quarter. He was just shy of a triple-double, adding 11 rebounds, eight assists and seven blocks, which also matched his career high.
Embiid is the first person in recorded league history to drop at least 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a game.
“I’ve never seen a more dominating performance, when you combine defense and offense,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said, via NBC Sports’ Noah Levick.
The 76ers were down six points at halftime before tying the game entering the final period. That’s when Embiid, who was already having a solid outing, turned it on.
Embiid scored 26 of his 59 points in the final quarter, including a late 19-foot jumper to put the Jazz out of reach in the final minute. He was the only 76er to score in about the final seven minutes of the game, and he accounted for all but one of the 76ers' points in the quarter. The win was, undoubtedly, all on Embiid.
Embiid finished shooting 19-of-28 from the field and 20-of-24 from the free-throw line.
Embiid’s night isn’t totally out of nowhere. He was fresh off a season-high 42 points in Philadelphia's win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, which marked his second game of the season scoring at least 40 points. In total, Embiid put up 101 points in about 24 hours. He is averaging 29.3 points, 10 rebounds and 3.7 assists this season.
Tyrese Maxey was the only other 76er to score in double figures Sunday. He finished with 18 points, and shot 8-of-24 from the field. Outside of Embiid, Danuel House was the only other Sixer to reach the free-throw line.
Malik Beasley scored 18 points off the bench to lead Utah. Lauri Markkannen and Collin Sexton each added 15 points, and Kelly Olynyk finished with 14 for the Jazz, who have lost two straight.
“Joel Embiid is very good at basketball,” Maxey said. “I mean, there’s nothing else I can really say about it. He’s just really good at basketball.”