PHILADELPHIA — With 52 points in a win over the Boston Celtics, Joel Embiid put together an incredible finishing flourish to his MVP campaign in the final week of the regular season.
In a Wednesday edition of the Locked On NBA podcast, hosts Jake Madison and Tony East discussed Embiid’s candidacy and whether such a huge performance late in the year would give him a leg up in the race.
“Not only has Embiid been playing really well, I think the wins have kind of given his team a little bit of attention positively in this stretch, and as much as that narrative part of it kind of sucks, it’s important, and it’s really helping,” said East.
Philadelphia is 52-57 and third in the East, the same record as Denver and Nikola Jokic.
At the same time that Embiid is peaking with great games, Jokic and the Nuggets have been sputtering. Denver lost to lowly Houston the same night that Embiid led Philadelphia to its big win on national TV.
“(Jokic) seemed like a lock to win this halfway through … but Embiid and the way that team has finished the year and his performance and how he’s kind of carried them at times, and things really got away from Jokic there,” Madison said.
Embiid has scored 50 or more points three times this season, and 40 or more in 13 games. He is averaging a 33.3 points per game, the most by any player since James Harden in the 2019-20 season.
Each player has three games left to polish off their resumes and pile up wins.