Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is making a legitimate run at a second-straight MVP this season, and his current scoring streak has placed his name alongside some of the best in NBA history.
With 35 points in Philadelphia's 124-92 win over the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, Embiid crossed the 30-point barrier for a 10th straight game. The streak ties his career high, and he's now one of only seven NBA players to ever have multiple 10-game streaks of 30-plus points, per the 76ers. The other names on the list are absolute legends: Tiny Archibald, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Jerry West.
What's even more intriguing is that Embiid has accomplished a large chunk of this most recent streak against some of the worst teams in the league. Now, one might argue that it's easier to score 30 points against a bad team, but also remember that, since the 76ers have often been winning in blowout fashion, Embiid has fewer minutes to accomplish the feat.
Here's a look at Embiid's current 10-game streak of scoring 30 or more points as the 76ers have won nine of the 10 games.
| Joel Embiid scoring streak | MIN | PTS | FG% | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 15 vs. DET (W) | 29 | 35 | 47% | +28 |
Dec. 13 vs. DET (W) | 31 | 41 | 58% | +27 |
Dec. 11 vs. WAS (W) | 30 | 34 | 70% | +30 |
Dec. 8 vs. ATL (W) | 36 | 38 | 50% | +16 |
Dec. 6 vs. WAS (W) | 38 | 50 | 66% | +8 |
Nov. 27 vs. LAL (W) | 31 | 30 | 60% | +11 |
Nov. 25 vs. OKC (W) | 37 | 35 | 44% | +7 |
Nov. 21 vs. CLE (L) | 41 | 32 | 43% | +3 |
Nov. 19 vs. BKN (W) | 31 | 32 | 46% | +25 |
Nov. 17 vs. ATL (W) | 37 | 32 | 53% | +16 |
As of Friday night, the three teams that Embiid has played in his last five games (Detroit twice, Washington twice and Atlanta once) have a combined record of 16-57, and they're three of the six worst defensive teams in the NBA. Against those teams, he's averaged 40 points in 33 minutes, which is utterly dominant. While they may have porous defenses, we've seen plenty of instances where a superstar overlooks a weaker opponent and comes out flat. That simply hasn't been the case for Embiid.
In Friday's win, Embiid also passed Chamberlain in the 76ers franchise record books with his ninth consecutive game of 30-plus points and 10 or more rebounds. If you pass a Hall of Famer on any statistical list, you know you're doing something right.
With the Sixers sitting at 17-7 as of Friday night, Embiid is making a strong case for his second-straight MVP award. He is currently averaging 33.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and a career-high 6.1 assists on the season. He's also been dominant on the defensive end, blocking nearly two shots per game with opponents shooting just 51.5% against him within six feet, according to NBA.com.
Embiid has clearly learned that knocking bad teams out early with huge scoring efforts will help limit his minutes. Now, that's a form of load management the league and players can surely support.
