April 27, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA Today
Joel Embiid is undoubtedly one of the best scoring big men in the history of basketball.
Battling constant knee injuries and a "mild case" of Bell's palsy, Joel Embiid turned in a performance for the ages on Thursday, putting up 50 points in a series-shifting win for the Sixers. Embiid torched the Knicks' defense from everywhere – down low, in the mid-range game, from the free-throw line, and from beyond the arc in Game 3.
It was one of the greatest offensive spectacles a center has ever put up in the postseason. Don't believe me? Look at these five figures below that showcase why it's true...
• As wild as it may sound, Embiid is only the fourth true center ever to have a 50-point playoff game (via Stathead), joining Wilt Chamberlain, who did so four times with the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors in the early 1960s, Nikola Jokić (2023) and Bob McAdoo (1975). Not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Not Moses Malone. Not Hakeem Olajuwon. Not Shaquille O'Neal.
Unbelievable.
• Embiid dropped 50 points in 41 minutes. Scoring at least 50 points in 41 or fewer minutes has occurred just nine times in playoff history. Jokić most recently did so last spring. Embiid joined the likes of Jokić, Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan and more.
• Embiid finished Game 3 with 50 points, eight rebounds and four assists. That stat line has only happened in the postseason 13 times (via Stathead). The list of players to do so features some of the greatest of the great, including Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and now Embiid.
• Embiid was 19-for-21 from the free throw line on Thursday. So often, dominant big men have been just as big liabilities at the charity stripe. Opponents want to do anything but "Hack-a-Joel" with how he shoots. Embiid was the fifth player this decade to make at least 19 free throws in a postseason game (via Stathead), joining Jimmy Butler (2017), Kawhi Leonard (2011), Dirk Nowitzki (2011) and Derrick Rose (2011). Embiid is the only true center, not counting power forwards like Tim Duncan, Karl Malone and Bob Pettit, to have ever reached this mark.
Truly unprecedented.
• On top of it all, Embiid got his 50 points so efficiently. His true shooting percentage, which attempts to accurately weigh the heightened value of three-point shots and free throws, was a staggering 88.5 percent. He's only the third player to have a 50-point postseason game with a true shooting percentage that high (via Stathead), joining Damian Lillard (2021) and Jamal Murray (2020). Lillard needed double overtime to accomplish the feat, too. He's doing what guards can barely do as a seven-foot center!
Embiid's playoff failures in the past are well documented, yes. People will say they want to see him in the Eastern Conference Finals before they start giving him his postseason laurels. That's fair, but for what this guy's dealing with physically, you have to tip your hat to him for making this a real series ahead of a Game 4 in South Philadelphia on Sunday.
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