In the 76ers' win over the Kings, 76ers center Embiid played 34 minutes, 10 of 18, including 5 three-pointers, 14 of 18 free throws, 36 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block, helping the team win the game, and embiid was also praised by King coach Gentry after the game: "I think the reason Embiid is so difficult to defend is that he is very skilled as a big man, and his basketball IQ is extremely high. ”
It is worth mentioning that the NBA officially announced the MVP list for the new week two days ago, Nikola Jokic continued to rank first, Joel Embiid rose to second, and Giannis Antetokounmpo third. Embiid's rapid rise in the MVP list in recent times is not without reason, in the case of Simmons refusing to play, Embiid led the team to the third position in the East, and his own recent data is even more explosive.
In the last 8 games, Embiid's statistics are 32 points and 12 rebounds, 32 points and 8 rebounds, 50 points and 12 rebounds, 40 points and 13 rebounds, 38 points and 12 rebounds, 42 points and 14 rebounds, 26 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 36 points and 12 rebounds, 7 of the 8 games have scored more than 30 points, with the soaring scores of this period, Embiid's average points per game has reached 29.1 points, officially equaling James, and Durant is only 0.2 points away, only a fraction of the difference from this season's scoring king.
But at the same time, there is a growing debate about Embiid's too many free throws, and as an inside player, Embiid is really good at creating damage on the inside, and it is normal to get more free throws. However, in terms of quantity, his recent free throw count is indeed somewhat exaggerated, the last 3 games, Embiid's free throw data is: 20 penalties 18, 13 penalties 8, 18 penalties 14, 3 games a total of 51 free throws, averaging 17 per game, even if you look at the data of the entire season, his average of 11.1 free throws per game is also very scary.
In this regard, many fans even ridiculed, Embiid this is to steal Harden's unique trick, in the past to create foul Bo free throw is Harden's signature move, but this season with the change of rules, Harden's average number of free throws per game fell sharply, the current average of only 7 free throws per game, is the new low in the last 7 seasons. On the contrary, Embiid is like a fish under the new rules, like the new king of the NBA free throws.
And seeing such Embiid, many fans also sighed, if James had such a free throw treatment as Embiid, or he would have been able to surpass Carl Malone, it would be easier to get the scoring king this season. This statement is not unreasonable, because as we all know, in recent seasons, James has not been very popular with referees in blowing penalties, from the 2019-2020 season, James's average number of free throws per game has been falling sharply, and this season has averaged only 5.9 free throws per game, almost half of Embiid's, to know that James has also played center for a long time this season, fighting on the inside, but many fouls on ordinary players often do not blow on James.
Such a problem has been complained by Lakers players and even reporters in previous seasons, saying that they can't ignore those fouls on him because James is too strong, and even some fans think that this is because the NBA is unwilling to continue to praise James and does not want to give him a star whistle, which has led to James's free throws falling. Whatever the truth, one thing is certain, that is, it is difficult for James to rely on free throws to quickly increase points now, compared to Embiid and others, James now wants to get the top scorer, it is really too difficult.