Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers will take their show on the road Thursday when they begin a five-game trek against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis.
Embiid put on a dazzling display Monday in his last outing, erupting for a franchise-record 70 points in the Sixers’ 133-123 home victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
The reigning NBA MVP made 24 of 41 shots from the floor and 21 of 23 attempts from the foul line. He also had a season-high 18 rebounds for Philadelphia, which has won six in a row.
Embiid, who averages a league-best 36.1 points per game, did his best to put his impressive night into perspective.
Embiid recorded a pair of strong performances against Indiana earlier in the season. He collected 37 points and 13 rebounds in the 76ers’ 137-126 win over the Pacers on Nov. 12 and added 39 and 12, respectively, in a 132-126 setback two nights later.
Tyrese Haliburton contributed 25 and 33 points, respectively, to lead Indiana in those games and averages a team-high 23.6 points per game and a league-best 12.6 assists. The All-Star guard, however, sat out the Pacers’ 114-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday with a hamstring injury and will miss Thursday’s game as well.
Although sidelined, Haliburton wasn’t shy about showing his support to his teammates from the bench on Tuesday.
Myles Turner scored 22 points and recent trade acquisition Pascal Siakam added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost three in a row and five of their past six games.
Andrew Nembhard recorded 15 points and seven assists while starting in place of Haliburton.
