Joel Embiid scored a career-high 70 points against the San Antonio Spurs on a very special night. Exactly 22 years ago, the legend Kobe Bryant set his personal record with 81 points.
January 22nd truly is a special day for the NBA. Embiid made history, scoring the franchise record for the Philadelphia 76ers with 70 points under his belt. On the same day 22 years ago, Kobe also made history, in a crazy game where he scored 81 points in total.
Embiid admitted that playing against the rookie Victor Wembanyama motivated him a lot.
“I wouldn’t sit here and lie to you, but that’s my mindset every single game,” Embiid said afterward on the local TV broadcast. “My mindset is to attack, dominate offensively and defensively, so tonight was no different.”
Embiid was also praised by the team’s coach Nick Nurse: “Obviously he can score in so many ways, just his sheer size gets him a lot of stuff around the basket, gets him a lot of free throws.
“The shooting touch is the skill part. The way he moves, the skill he has, the size he is, and he gets motivated like that, anything can happen I guess.”
Embiid now holds the record for most points scored in a game this season. Previously, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the record holder with 64 points.