The Philadelphia 76ers tackle the Utah Jazz on Wednesday in a showdown between the two top teams in their respective conferences. It was all set up to be a big game because both teams have star power on the perimeter as well as on the big man.
Joel Embiid had another great night when he dropped 40 points and 19 rebounds. It comes in a match with former defender of the year Rudy Gobert, who will open many eyes in the MVP conversation.
Embiid also shot an effective 14-for-27 from the floor and he was 10-for-13 from the line. Considering the status that Gobert has, the big man wanted to take it to him.
“Going against him is one of my goals to also be the defensive player of the year,” said Embiid. ‘If he acts against such guys, he’s a good player; he does a lot for his team that does not appear in the state, but if you act against the guys, it brings something different into my game. I want to dominate on the offensive side, but mainly the defensive side. This is the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year. ”
The Sixers needed every point from Embiid in this point against the best team in the NBA record, and it was very important for them to achieve this victory and go with some measure at halftime. It really is one of their best wins of the season.
“He was absolutely incredible,” Doc Rivers said. “He got what he wanted when he wanted it. He made the right plays. It was a very big team win for us. We are lucky that we got a 3 from Joel that is big for us and we wanted a 2 or 3 at that point. We could not care because we had a time-out in our pocket, but it was great. ”
The Sixers have two players who are candidates for the defensive player of the year in Embiid, as well as Ben Simmons, but for the big player to play as he did in the attack against Gobert and then also block two shots, it’s great .
“Obviously I have another one of my teammates who has the potential to be the defensive player of the year, but these are the matches you want to make out and just dominate,” Embiid added. “Prove to everyone that we have a great team and individually, I have to be there in terms of rankings and things like that.”
The Sixers will now sit at the top of the East after the All-Star break after a very huge victory.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!