ATLANTA, GA – After scoring 40 points in Game 2, NBA MVP runner-up Joel Embiid put together another strong performance in helping lead the East’s top team go up 2-1 in a 127-111 road win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Embiid, who some can argue was jilted out of the award over Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, led the way for the Sixers in scoring 27 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists in 34 minutes. Embiid also got some much-needed help from fellow starters in power forward Tobias Harris (22 points, eight rebounds, five assists), point guard Ben Simmons (18 points, four rebounds and seven assists) and shooting guard Seth Curry adding 12 points, four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes.
The Sixers also got a much-needed boost from the bench thanks to Dwight Howard (12 points, six rebounds) in 12 minutes and shooting guard Furkan Korkmaz (14 points).
However, Game 3 was all about Embiid.
Since the NBA MVP final results, the former Kansas star has played like a man obsessed in on both offense and defense in totaling four blocks and 22 rebounds. If Embiid continues to play at this leave, then no team—East or West—don’t want to see the fired-up Cameroonian big man.
Six more wins from his first-ever NBA Finals, it is looking like that both he and the Sixers are a player and team that no one wants to see.