76ers’ Joel Embiid Makes NBA History With 59 Points Against Utah Jazz

“I missed too many free throws,” Embiid said with a laugh after the game.

Only one other Sixer even attempted a free throw, Danuel House Jr., who made 1 of 2.

Basketball Reference gave Embiid’s effort a Game Score of 54.4, making it the eighth-most productive N.B.A. game going back to the 1980s. No. 1 is Michael Jordan’s 69-pointer for Chicago against Cleveland in 1989-90, which gets a game score of 64.6. Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game for the Lakers against the Raptors in 2005-6 ranks second.

Embiid’s 59 points is the fifth-highest total in franchise history behind 68-, 65- and 62-point games from Wilt Chamberlain and a 60-pointer from Allen Iverson. (Chamberlain’s 100-point game, not to mention five 70-pointers, came with the Warriors when they were in Philadelphia and San Francisco.)

Embiid had a 50-point game in each of the last two seasons, and has scored at least 40 on 28 occasions in his career. But 59 was comfortably new territory for him.

The game was the second of back-to-back home games for the Sixers. Embiid scored 42 against the Atlanta Hawks the night before, but showed little signs of weariness.

“Joel Embiid is very good at basketball,” understated his teammate Tyrese Maxey, who had the team’s second-highest point total against the Jazz, a comparatively paltry 18.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/sports/basketball/nba-joel-embiid-sixers.html