The duo shines

    At the beginning of the 2023-24 season, NBA duos were studied. Giannis and Dame were in Milwaukee, Tatum and Jaylen Brown ohave always made Boston contenders, and Durant and Booker looked to capitalize out west. Not to mention Luka and Kyrie, Lebron and A.D., or the Joker and Jamal Murray. 

    However, not many were giving a lot of attention to the Maxey-Embiid duo. After all, Tyrese Maxey was thrust into a point guard role when Harden left, and it was hard for many to imagine him taking over the team. Those opinions were obviously changed after Maxey's first 50 point outing, and each game is only furthering Maxey's support. 

    Against the Timberwolves it was no different. Facing off the best team in the Western conference the 76ers were unfazed. Minnesota boasted a 20-5 record and star players such as Rudy Gobert, and Karl Anthony-Towns, and Anthony Edwards. But Maxey and Embiid blew up the stat sheet. 

    Maxey put up 35 points and five assists, nailing five threes in the process. In only 36 minutes Embiid earned 51 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and making 17 of his 25 field goal attempts. He also made 17 of his 18 free throw attempts. 

Maxey had 35 points

    Photo Credit: PHLY

    It was funny: with 49 points already, Embiid needed to only make one more free throw to reach 50. But then he missed his first of the game. However, the ball bounced back and Paul Reed grabbed the ball. He made a quick pass to Embiid who rose up from the line for the shot. After the ball bounced around for a little, it fell in. 

    Maxey's gorgeous shots and Embiid's dominance are a dangerous combination. Joel Embiid is becoming lethal at the line, and not just foul shots. He has mastered the pump fake, and his fadeaway from the line is literally unguardable. He is so dangerous, it is hard to cover him without fouling him. Basically, he either makes the shot, gets fouled, or both. Pick your poison. 

    Embiid is on a tear. The center has a 12 game streak of 30+ points, and a 11+ rebounds. This is his second 50 point game in December.

Embiid is unstoppable 

  Photo Credit: Liberty Ballers

  Although the duo's teammates didn't put up as many points, they still had decent games. Tobias Harris scored nine points and grabbed five boards. Paul Reed scored eight points, hauled in eight rebounds, and stole three balls in only 12 minutes. 

    The duo scored 86 points, as it is asserting itself to the league. They should be two all-stars, and Joel Embiid should be an MVP. If you want to, you can disagree with me. 

But you're wrong. 

 

The first photo was taken from a PHLY article. Photo taken by Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports.

The second photo was taken from a Liberty Ballers article. Photo taken by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images.

Both images used for commentary.