February 02, 2023

Joel Embiid earns back-to-back Player of the Month honors

And Doc Rivers won Coach of the Month after an 11-3 stretch for the Sixers.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

There hasn't been much for the rest of the NBA to really do about Joel Embiid these past couple of months. He's going to get his, and the unbelievable stretch has resulted in back-to-back Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors.

Embiid received January's award on Thursday, after averaging 34.9 points and 10.7 rebounds over a 10-game span that saw the Sixers go 8-2.

The exclamation point came on January 28 at the Wells Fargo Center, when Embiid dropped 47 points, 18 boards, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks on Nikola Jokić – who bested Embiid for NBA MVP the past two season – and the Denver Nuggets in a 126-119 win.

The performance also came on the heels of Embiid's snub as an All-Star starter, snapping a streak of five consecutive starts, even though he's still likely to go as a reserve.

nOt aN aLL-sTar stArtEr.#KiaPOTM pic.twitter.com/fnyq5d5l8V
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) February 2, 2023

In his seventh season and still trying to push the Sixers to a playoff breakthrough, Embiid is averaging 33.5 points and 10.1 rebounds on the year, all while the team is gaining momentum in a battle for the Eastern Conference's top seed following a slow start.

Guiding the shift has been Doc Rivers, who has his fair amount of criticisms among the fan base, but also received Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors on Thursday.

As a whole, the Sixers went 11-3 through January with a perfect 6-0 record on the road and a 7-0 record in games decided by 10 points or less.