Embiid shines in a narrow 1-point victory over the Pelicans
The Philadelphia 76ers hosted the New Orleans Pelicans in a battle between two of the league's top big men, Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis. The 76ers came away with a fortunate 121-120 victory after Anthony Davis missed the game-tying free throw with 2.5 seconds left to play. The 76ers are now 3rd in the Eastern Conference standings with a 13-7 record. Whereas the Pelicans fell to the 9th position in the loaded Western Conference with a 10-8 record.
Joel Embiid was again fantastic for the 76ers coming away with 31 points to go along with 19 rebounds and 2 blocks. Embiid has been averaging 28.1 PPG and 13.4 REB for the season so far and is one of the prime candidates for this years MVP award. He was supported very aptly by the Rookie of the Year winner Ben Simmons. Simmons absolutely filled the stat sheet. He had 22 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists along with 2 blocks on 9-18 shooting from the field. Jimmy Butler had an off night going 5-16 from the field.
The New Orleans Pelicans were coming off a victory over the Spurs but they started the match very slowly. They slipped to a 15 point deficit just in the first quarter but rallied back to make it a close game. Anthony Davis had a historic 5*5 night finishing with 12 points, 16 rebs, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 5 steals. Jrue Holiday and Moore both had 30+ scoring nights but the Pelicans still failed to win the game. Julius Randle also had a 22 point double-double performance in what has been a career season so far for him.
The 76ers next host the bottom-placed Cavaliers on Friday while the New Orleans Pelicans travel to Washington to play the Wizards on Saturday.