Philadelphia 76ers Player of the Week: Joel Embiid strives for greatness

The Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid’s fantastic play this past week is slowly putting him on a elite level with other great centers.

The Philadelphia 76ers lack of depth, especially at the center position, is beginning to become a problem this season. Despite the team’s weak bench, the center Joel Embiid did everything he could to keep the Sixers competitive this past week. His unbelievable week earns him the player of the week award.

Embiid’s weakest performance was in the Sxiers lone victory of the week against the Detroit Pistons. He finished the game with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks, three turnovers and three fouls, while making 6-16 field goal attempts, 1-4 3-pointers and 11-14 free throws.

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The Sixers big man usually matches up well against the Pistons. In three games this season, the center has averaged 32.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Even though this was a bad outing by his standards, his overall season against the Pistons has been solid.

The Sixers lost in their third matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers fell short of a victory, but it wasn’t due to a lack of effort on Embiid’s part. He had 33 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, one steal, one block, six turnovers and five fouls, while shooting 12-18 from the floor, 2-3 from downtown and 7-8 on foul shots. On the season, Embiid has averaged 27.0 points, 14.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks against the Nets.

In Philly’s second loss of the week against the Indiana Pacers, Embiid had a historic night. He ended the game with 40 points, 21 rebounds, three assists, one steal, one block, six turnovers and four fouls, while converting 13-22 from the field, 1-6 form behind the arc and 13-16 from the charity stripe. His performance was special for two reasons:

"“…becoming the first Sixers player with at least 30 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Charles Barkley on Dec. 7, 1990. Embiid is the first player in the NBA this season with a 40-point, 20-rebound game.”"

If it wasn’t already clear to the rest of the NBA, that game clarified any doubt that the Sixers big man is the best center in the NBA and has a chance to be the first center to win MVP since Shaquille O’Neal.

Honorable Mention

With an injured Jimmy Butler, Furkan Korkmaz stepped up big in two out of the three games of the previous week, which was enough to earn the wing honorable mention. For the week, Korkmaz averaged 14.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.7 turnovers and 2.7 fouls. Sixers may rely on Korkmaz again if injury was to occur on the perimeter.

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Embiid had a great week, but the turnover numbers is an indicator that the big man is exhausting himself in games. The team needs to find a better backup center than the ones they have currently in order to give the franchise center some quality rest on the bench. For the week, Embiid averaged 32.3 points, 15.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, 5.0 turnovers and 4.0 fouls.