Starting 5 Daily Newsletter

Starting 5, Jan. 23: Joel Embiid goes off for franchise record

On the 18th anniversary of Kobe's 81, Joel Embiid joined him as one of nine players to ever score 70 points in an NBA game.

We opened Monday’s Starting 5 asking if any of today’s stars could challenge Kobe’s 81-point game on its 18th anniversary.

Enter Joel Embiid, who put up 70 on Monday night in Philly.

THE LINEUP 🏀

🤯 Embiid erupts for 70

🔗 Joel x Kobe connection

🔥 KD game-winner, KAT’s 62 spoiled

🌪️ Roundup: Cavs 8th straight win

🗽 Rivals Week: OG’s impact in NYC

📺 Rivals Week Begins: City bragging rights are on the line as NBA Rivals Week tips off with a TNT doubleheader of intra-city rivals.

🍎 In New York, the Knicks head to Brooklyn looking for their fourth straight win overall and in the rivalry (7:30 ET, TNT).

⭐ In Los Angeles, the Clippers host the Lakers looking for their third straight win overall, while the Lakers look to win their third-straight battle of L.A. (10 ET, TNT)

1. JOEL EMBIID DROPS FRANCHISE-RECORD 70 POINTS

Joel Embiid sets a franchise-record with a career-high 70 points against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

🔔 Sixers 133, Spurs 123: As the winner of the last two NBA scoring titles, Joel Embiid knows a thing or two about putting up points. But Monday night, he entered new territory with a career-high and franchise-record 70 points, along with 18 rebounds and five assists, to lead the Sixers past the Spurs for their sixth straight win. | Recap

  • 9th player to score 70: Embiid joined Wilt Chamberlain (6x, 100), Kobe Bryant (81), David Thompson (73), Damian Lillard (71), Donovan Mitchell (71), David Robinson (71), Elgin Baylor (71) and Devin Booker (70)
  • Fastest to 70: Embiid’s 36:38 minutes played are the fewest ever in a 70+ point game
  • One of three: Joined Chamberlain (5x) and Baylor as the only players with 70+ pts and 15+ reb in a game
  • One of one: Embiid became the only player with 70+ pts, 18+ reb, 5+ ast in a game

🗣️ “Wilt never did this?” Embiid was in disbelief when he was told postgame that only he and Michael Jordan had ever had a 65+ pts, 15+ reb, 5+ ast game.

Best scoring season: While Chamberlain holds the record for the highest per-game scoring average in league history (50.4 in 1961-62), Embiid currently has the highest per-36 minutes scoring average ever (38.0).

Franchise Dominance: Embiid’s 70 eclipsed Chamberlain’s 68 as the Sixers’ franchise record (note: Chamberlain’s 100 came with the Philadelphia Warriors, not the Sixers). But it’s not only the game total that Embiid leads. He now owns every Sixers’ highest-scoring quarter in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98).

  • 1st quarter: 24 pts (Monday)
  • 2nd quarter: 25 pts (Feb, 4, 2021)
  • 3rd quarter: 29 pts (Nov. 6, 2023)
  • 4th quarter: 26 pts (Nov. 13, 2022)

No cooling him off: Embiid’s teammates doused him with water on the court during his postgame interview and again once he made it to the locker room

Reactions: Embiid’s night was celebrated on social by current players and NBA legends — not to mention a great reaction from Kevin Durant when he found out in his news conference

2. JOEL x KOBE: AN INSPIRING CONNECTION

If there was a date that Joel Embiid was going to have the greatest scoring performance of his career (so far), it seems right that it would happen on Jan. 22, 2024.

  • Jan. 22: Matches the date of Kobe Bryant’s 81 points game from 2006
  • 2024: The last two digits match the No. 24 jersey that Embiid saw Kobe wearing when he first took up basketball as a teenager in Cameroon

🗣️ Embiid: “From the time I started playing, Kobe was my guy. He’s the reason that I started playing basketball. And it’s funny because [I scored 70] on the same night he had 81 and that was my favorite player.”

On Jan. 28, 2020, two days after Kobe’s tragic passing, Embiid received permission from Sixers legend Bobby Jones to pull his No. 24 out of retirement for the day so he could wear it in honor of the man who inspired him to play the game.

Embiid scored 24 points while wearing No. 24 to lead the Sixers to a win over Golden State. After the game, he discussed Kobe’s impact on his life while wearing Kobe’s number.

🗣️ Embiid: “I think about where I came from and how I started playing the game. I go back to the first time I really watched basketball, which was in 2010 in that Finals against Boston, and that’s how I became a Kobe fan. I wanted to be like Kobe, and I wanted to play basketball.

After his performance on Monday night, Embiid will forever be in an exclusive club with Kobe, as one of the nine players to ever score 70+ points in an NBA game.

And they both did it on Jan. 22.

3. KD LEADS ANOTHER SUNS RALLY; HORNETS SPOIL KAT’S 62

☀️ Suns 115, Bulls 113: Kevin Durant (43 pts, 6 reb, 8 ast) dropped his second straight 40-piece to lead the Suns to their second 20+ point comeback in the last week as they won their sixth-straight game. Bradley Beal (18) and Devin Booker (16) combined for 34 for Phoenix, while Coby White (26) and DeMar DeRozan (21) led the Bulls. | Recap | Watch the final 6:04

  • Clutch KD: After trailing by as many as 23 in the third quarter, Durant capped off the comeback with the go-ahead 3 with 29 seconds left
  • DeMar answers: DeRozan got to his spot in the paint, rose up for the jumper and tied the game with 22.9 left
  • Game-Winner: Catch on the move, one dribble, pull-up, double-clutch, release, bucket. Durant put the Suns up for good with 1.6 to play

Karl-Anthony Towns shows off full skill set in 62-point outburst

Karl-Anthony Towns lights it up for 62 points versus Charlotte.

🐝 Hornets 128, Wolves 125: Karl-Anthony Towns exploded for 44 points in the first half (14-17 FG, 8-9 3P, 4th most pts in a half since 1997-98) on his way to a career-high and franchise-record 62 points. However, only four of those points came in the fourth quarter as the Hornets outscored the Wolves 36-18 to pull off the comeback win behind a combined 55 points from Miles Bridges and Brandon Miller. | Recap | Watch the final 6:05

  • Towns x Embiid: For only the fourth time in NBA history, two players scored 60+ on the same day as Towns (62) and Embiid (70) combined for 132 points
  • Towns x Dame: KAT joined Lillard as the only players in NBA history with 60+ points and 10+ 3-pointers made in a game
  • 10x10x10: KAT became the first player in NBA history with 10+ 2s, 10+ 3s and 10+ FTs in a game

4. ROUNDUP: CAVS EXTEND WIN STREAK

⚔️ Cavs 126, Magic 99: Sam Merrill (26 pts, 8 3s) and Donovan Mitchell (25 pts, 13 ast, 4 stl) led the Cavs to their eighth straight win. Cleveland’s eight wins have come by a total of 180 points (22.5 average margin of victory). It is the 10th time in NBA history a team has won eight straight games in a single season by at least 180 total points. | Recap

🐻 Grizzlies 108, Raptors 100: Jaren Jackson Jr. (27 pts, 5 ast, 6 stl) had 16 points and six steals in the first quarter as he led the Grizzlies past the Raptors. JJJ joined Paul Pierce and Baron Davis as the only players in the play-by-play era with 6+ steals in the first quarter. | Recap

🦌 Bucks 122, Pistons 113: Giannis (31 pts, 17 reb, 10 ast) posted his sixth triple-double of the season (41st for his career), while Khris Middleton (26 pts on 64% shooting) and Lillard (17 pts, 8 ast) combined for 43 as the Bucks swept the season series. | Recap

🍀 Celtics 119, Mavs 110: In a battle of star duos, Boston’s Jayson Tatum (39 pts, 11 reb) and Jaylen Brown (34 pts, 4 ast) combined for 73 points to outduel Dallas’ Luka Doncic (33 pts, 18 reb, 13 ast) and Kyrie Irving (23 pts, 6 reb). | Recap

👑 Kings 122, Hawks 107: Harrison Barnes scored 32 points to lead six Kings in double figures as they defeated the shorthanded Hawks to snap a four-game losing streak. Domantas Sabonis added 14 points and 21 boards, while Dejounte Murray led all scorers with 35 for Atlanta. | Recap

5. RIVALS WEEK: OG’S IMPACT IN NYC

We’re still two weeks from the 2024 Trade Deadline, but the grades are already in for New York’s acquisition of OG Anunoby on Dec. 30

  • The Knicks were 17-15 when they made the trade (8th in the East)
  • The Knicks are 9-2 since they made the trade, improving to 26-17 (5th in the East)

Adding the All-Defensive Second Team wing was bound to make an impact, but New York’s improvement on that side of the ball has been remarkable.

Since Anunoby made his debut on New Year’s Day, the Knicks rank second in the NBA in defensive rating, allowing just 103.5 points per 100 possessions. That’s a 12-point improvement from their 20th-ranked defense prior to the trade.

That type of turnaround from one calendar year to another has only happened one other time since defensive rating has been tracked (1996-97). In four games in 2011 (due to shortened season), the Celtics ranked 28th in defensive rating, then finished 1st in 2012.

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