Joel Embiid’s dominant regular season performance has continued into the playoffs, as he just set a new career-high in postseason points.
After a disappointing 2019-20 season for the Philadelphia 76ers, the team bounced back in a big way this year in large part to the dominance of franchise centre Joel Embiid.
The Cameroonian big man was nothing short of sensational in the regular season by averaging 28.5 points (a career-high), 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists and leading his team to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Perhaps more impressive are his shooting splits, as the 27-year-old made 51% of his field goals and converted on 37.7 percent of his threes, which career highs as well. Embiid was arguably the front runner for the MVP award before suffering a knee injury that sidelined him for 10 games. In with the missed time, he’ll likely still end up second on MVP ballots, just behind fellow big man Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
Unsurprisingly, Embiid’s career year has continued into the playoffs, where he just posted a new career-high in postseason points by knocking down a beautiful turnaround jumper that gave him 36 on the night.
More importantly, his team has been just as dominant, as the Sixers are about to take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Washington Wizards in the first-round matchup.
What’s next for Embiid and Philadelphia?
Since no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in league history, it might be time to look ahead to future matchups for the Sixers.
Embiid’s team will be set to play the winner between the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks in the second round, and there’s no doubt that Philadelphia will be heavy favorites in that series too.
With the way this season has gone for Embiid, it’ll be quite disappointing if they don’t make it to the Eastern Conference Finals at the very least, as the Sixers look like legitimate title contenders at the moment.
No matter what happens, there’s no doubt that Embiid has solidified his place among the game’s very best, and a long playoff run will be the cherry on top of his career season.