Nick Nurse began his postgame press conference with an uncontroversial assessment of Joel Embiid.
“We’re seeing something pretty cool right in front of us, right?” Nurse said.
Around a minute later, the Sixers’ head coach made a statement that would apply to far fewer players.
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“Every time he takes a shot,” Nurse said, “you think it’s going in.”
Just about.
Embiid on Wednesday night faced a Timberwolves team that leads the NBA in defensive rating and features 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. He scored 51 points in the Sixers’ impressive win.
Over the final three periods, Embiid missed four total shots: A second-quarter layup, two third-quarter jumpers, and a fourth-quarter free throw.
NBA
“With the way I started, I thought I was going to shoot 2 for 30,” Embiid said. “I’m still learning, still getting better. Tonight was a great step as far as knowing when to be aggressive and when to take over — and what to do when the time comes. Not forcing anything, but just taking whatever the defense is giving me.”
Even with his late blemish at the foul line, Embiid is shooting 89.3 percent there on an NBA-best 11.7 attempts per game. And Paul Reed helped nudge him across the 50-point threshold by grabbing that unexpected miss and getting the ball right back to Embiid, who promptly hit a jumper.
Embiid has averaged 41.4 points over the Sixers’ run of seven wins in eight games, raising his season average to a league-high 35.1. The only NBA players to ever exceed 35 points per game in a season are Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, James Harden, Kobe Bryant and Rick Barry.
By posting a 12th consecutive game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, Embiid joined a group that includes all-time great big men Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
He’s ascended to this all-universe level by systemically adding tools on top of his immense size and strength. Embiid now has an assortment of mid-range skills beyond what many wings possess. While Nurse loves all of that, he was especially enthused Wednesday by Embiid’s well-timed moments of no-nonsense ferocity and power.
“My favorite thing is he shoots it, he makes it, he makes it … and then all of a sudden, he goes down the lane and dunks it on about three people,“ Nurse said. “I like the force downhill, because that is going to start to draw some other things. And those are also pretty high-percentage shots, so that’s why we like ‘em.”
Embiid hammered home two dunks late in the third quarter. Of course, he tends to set up those crowd-thrilling highlights with some craftiness. Embiid’s first slam came after a subtle shoulder shimmy à la Hakeem Olajuwon and spin baseline past Naz Reid.
When Anthony Edwards double teamed Embiid at the left elbow, he faked a pass to Danuel House Jr. in the dunker spot and then slid around Kyle Anderson. Embiid plowed through the paint with nothing less than a dunk in mind.
“It helps when you’re being aggressive, and you’re going down there and you’re dunking the ball,” Embiid said. “Most of the time, I don’t have the space to do so because every defense is just collapsed. And that’s also usually when I take advantage, and I try to get my teammates easy shots.
“But … Coach and (trainer Drew Hanlen), we’ve been emphasizing paint touches. Got to get the ball in the paint, get easy ones. I think that’s really been the change this year. Any chances I get, just trying to get into the paint as much as possible.”
Perhaps Embiid was especially attack-minded and uncompromising Wednesday night, fired up for the matchup against Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and the 20-6 T-Wolves.
As Nurse and his teammates would tell you, however, his performance wasn’t that different from the historically outstanding norm.
“I think he goes after all the bigs in the NBA that guard him — bigs, guards, whoever it is,” Tyrese Maxey said. “That’s what we expect him to do. He’s dominant, he’s extremely aggressive, and we need him to stay that way.”