The NBA announced today that Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played between Monday, March 13 and Sunday, March 19. The honor is his fourth this season and the 11th Player of the Week nod of his career.
Embiid joins Hall of Famer Allen Iverson (2004-05; 2001-02) as the only 76ers ever to earn the award four times in a single season.
Over the course of the week, Embiid helped the 76ers rise to the No. 2 seed in the East with averages of 35.0 points (69.1% FG, 86.7% FT), 12.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 3.3 blocks per outing. He was the lone player to average such numbers, leading the 76ers to a perfect 3-0 week, which extended the team’s streak to eight games, the longest active streak in the league, and tied for the Philadelphia’s longest this season.
Embiid was the only player to total 10 blocks during the week which led the Cameroon-native to six straight games of at least 30 points and two blocks, which is tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history with Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. Only Hall of Famer Michael Jordan (seven games) has ever posted a longer streak.
During this past week, Embiid set a 76ers franchise record with nine straight games with at least 30 points, including seven straight games where he shot 55-percent-or-better from the floor. These seven consecutive games with 30-plus points on 55% shooting are tied for the longest such streak in league history.
Across his last 30 outings, Embiid is averaging 33.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, making him the fourth player to average such numbers over a 30-game span in NBA history, joining Russell Westbrook along with Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Embiid leads the league in scoring this season, with a career-high 33.5 points per game on 54.6% from the floor, putting him on pace to become just the third player to post 33 points and 54% shooting for a season, joining Abdul-Jabbar (1971-72) and Chamberlain (1965-66).
Through 70 games, Embiid and the 76ers have compiled a record of 48-22, marking the team’s best 70-game start since 2000-01 (49-21). This is also the 11th time in franchise history where the 76ers have won at least 48 of its first 70 games.
Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings was named Western Conference Player of the Week.
Stay tuned to TheseUrbanTimes.com for all your Philadelphia 76ers news. Follow @eldorado2452 and @theseurbantimes on twitter and instagram for all your Sixers updates.
