Joel Embiid’s 59-point recreation made for some unbelievable historical past

The Philadelphia 76ers – a workforce that after felt preordained for a deep postseason run – have had an uneven begin to their 2022-23 season. A mix of accidents and poor offensive execution left the workforce below .500 by 13 video games.

However, issues could also be turning round for Philly after a powerful win over the surprising Utah Jazz that evened their file to a clear 7-7. Their victory was powered, largely, by a herculean efficiency from the participant who has been on the middle of many of those criticisms (ha, get it), Joel Embiid.

Embiid, just like the 76ers as a complete, got here into the season with an excessive amount of expectations. After being the runner-up in final 12 months’s MVP race, many anticipated Embiid to clinch the title for himself this 12 months.

Unfortunately, for quite a lot of causes, his MVP push hasn’t gotten off the bottom within the method many would have anticipated. But Sunday’s efficiency could also be Embiid’s method of asserting that his marketing campaign is in full pressure. And boy, did he put himself on the map.

In a hair lower than 37 minutes of motion, Embiid mounted a statline of 59 factors, eleven rebounds, eight assists, seven blocks, and one steal. He achieved these numbers whereas taking pictures 67.9% from the ground (28 makes an attempt) and 83.3% from the free throw line (24 makes an attempt), amassing a real taking pictures proportion of 76.5%.

He was considered one of two 76ers to attain in double figures and the one one to surpass the 20-point mark.

Embiid’s masterpiece in opposition to Utah wasn’t simply one of the best efficiency of the early season, however perhaps one of many greatest common season performances of all-time.

By utilizing John Hollinger’s Game Score metric, we are able to get an thought of how properly gamers carry out on a single-game foundation. According to that measurement, Embiid’s efficiency on Sunday constitutes the seventh-highest common season Game Score output in NBA historical past.

Even extra attention-grabbing, discover the names which might be forward of him. Of the 5 gamers forward of Embiid, solely considered one of them (Karl Malone) is categorized by Basketball Reference as a Power Forward or Center (aka a “big man”).

Looking even additional down the all-time checklist on this statistic, you see that Embiid owns two of the ten greatest common season performances by a “big man” in league historical past.

Will Embiid use this iconic efficiency to spring his MVP campaign into excessive gear? That’s to be determined. But one factor is for sure, final night time, we witnessed one of many biggest particular person performances in league historical past.