Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid’s seemingly unstoppable domination

In the midst of an MVP-caliber season, calling Joel Embiid a nightmare for opponents would be an understatement. The Kansas product is in just his third season for the Philadelphia 76ers yet is taking the league by storm with both his offensive and defensive domination.

Contrary to his 2017-18 season, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid places top-10 among qualifying players in screen assists per game (4.0) and screen assists points per game (9.1). Embiid takes the eighth most contested two-point shots per game (10.3) and the 10th-most total contested shots (12.8).

All the while, he is tied for the fifth most points per game within the NBA (27.3), converting 8.9 of his 18.6 attempted field goals. Additionally, Embiid is a frequent visitor of the free throw line, sinking 8.2 of his 10.1 free throw attempts, trailing only James Harden in both categories. Embiid also places top-10 among qualifying centers on a per game basis in blocks, assists, rebounds, free throw makes, three-point makes, field goal makes, points, and wins all within the clutch.

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Embiid is scoring 2.6 points per game on pull-up opportunities, third most among qualifying centers in basketball, and places second in both drives per game (4.3) and driving points per game (3.7). Of Embiid’s 86.0 touches per game, more than LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, 5.7 touches come at the elbow and 7.4 come in the paint. Embiid is scoring an average of 2.2 elbow touch points and 8.0 paint touch points. A season prior, Embiid scored only 1.3 elbow touch points and 5.7 paint touch points, further proving his offensive improvement this year.  Likewise, Embiid is making 3.4 passes from the elbow and averaging 0.6 assists from that spot, whereas last year, he made only 2.4 passes there and averaged 0.4 assists.

Most of Embiid’s offensive success comes from post-ups though, going against opponents in the post 10.5 times a game translating to 0.678 points per post-up touches. 7.1 of Embiid’s points are generated on post-ups, the second most in basketball. There is indeed a decrease in post up points per game compared to last year, but Embiid is attempting 1.5 less field goals there this season and correspondingly turns the ball over less. He has the third most total points (386) on post-ups and is just 172 points shy of his 558 point total in 2017-18.

Despite collecting the second most total rebounds on a nightly basis (13.5), Embiid hauls in a league-best 11.0 defensive rebounds and accumulated 48 double-doubles, the second most in basketball to this point. He is averaging the sixth-most per game box outs (8.5), 1.8 of which come on offense and 6.7 on defense. Moreover, Embiid’s individual box outs lead to a league second 4.7 team rebounds and he averages the most player rebounds (2.4) on box out situations. By average, Embiid has 23.0 rebound chances and is contested on 5.0 of those rebounds per game. Most impressively, Embiid sees an average of 17.1 defensive rebound opportunities on a per game basis and collects 64.3% of them, despite 3.3 being contested. Embiid already set career highs in total defense rebounds and total rebounds this season and is on pace to set a career high in offensive rebounds too.

Defensively, Embiid places within the top-10 in both blocks (1.9) and defensive win shares (0.161) per game. The 7-foot big man serves as an incredible rim protector for Philadelphia, imposing unmatched strength against opponents.

Embiid is averaging 12.9 points in the paint and 4.4 second chance points on a per game basis, both within the top ten among qualifying centers, while adding the third most fast break points per game (3.5).

Embiid has the fourth best Player Impact Estimate in basketball (19.3) and has proven to be a menace on all aspects of the game in just his third season.