Adrian Fedkiw
Joel Embiid just had his flu game.
Sort of.
Embiid had 26 points, nine rebounds and two blocks and the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Toronto Raptors 94-89 at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night.
The streaking Sixers have won seven of their last nine games and just beat the No. 2 seed in the 28-14 Raptors of the Eastern Conference. Embiid, who was 6-of-13 from the floor and 12-of-14 from the foul line, recorded his 10th straight game of 20-or-more points. He is only the second Sixers rookie ever to do that. Allen Iverson accomplished the feat in 11 consecutive contests during his freshman campaign.
So much for that illness. Embiid with 26 points, 9 reb and 2 blocks as Sixers beat Raptors 94-89. Here are his highlights @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/YNUFihzRHB
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) January 19, 2017
Sixers head coach Brett Brown said Tuesday that Embiid was questionable with the flu. He didn’t participate in Wednesday’s shootaround. T.J. McConnell layed in the go-ahead bucket with 1:09 left and Philadelphia sunk all six of its foul shots down the stretch to seal the win, including four makes from Embiid.
Embiid showing off his dribbling skills and Covington finds McConnell for wide open layup to put the Sixers up 2 with just over a min left pic.twitter.com/4UaYR707iP
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) January 19, 2017
As the Sixers were getting closer to the win and Embiid knocking down freebies, the 7’2 Cameroonian cupped his ears and motioned his arms as he egged on the rabid fans to cheer louder. Chants of MVP and Trust the Process broke out. It’s only going to get better when and if Ben Simmons comes back
That’ll make the hair on the arms stand up
Robert Covington and Embiid also teamed up defensively in the final minute to block Kyle Lowry.
Covington and Embiid locking it down!! WOW! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/93FznIFfIa
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) January 19, 2017
Lock it down! But as great as those blocks were, Dario Saric had the highlight of the night with a pair of swats on one Toronto possession early in the fourth quarter as Embiid sat on the pine to get rest.
Not in Dario's house!!! @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/1ZMcYk9jWu
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) January 19, 2017
Ersan Ilyasova netted 18 points, while Saric added eight points and nine boards for the Sixers, who improved to 14-26 on the year.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 25 points and the Philadelphia native Lowry poured in 24 to go with five steals and four helpers.