Wednesday night’s NBA game includes many exciting games, from the top team in the east, facing the top team in the west, the drama of James Harden’s return to Houston, the All-Stars are fighting Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls facing with Zion Williamson, the New Orleans Pelicans, and two of the league’s top scorers, who split into Steph Curry meeting Damian Lillard.
In addition, 12 teams end the first half of the season as the All-Star Weekend approaches rapidly.
With so much action to follow, we asked those inside our NBA to take the biggest food from the biggest games.
Embiid creates the MVP casing through amazing Jazz
Anyone who watched even a second of the 131-123 victory of the Philadelphia 76ers over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night could say that the game meant something extra special for Joel Embiid, the Sixers star.
Embiid – who told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan in December that he should have made an All-NBA team against Rudy Gobert last season and campaigned to be Defensive Player of the Year in the league – was dominant in both ends in Wednesday’s victory. , scoring 40 points for the final, with 19 rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks in 40 minutes.
On offense, Embiid repeatedly fed through Gobert inside, getting his characteristic double-digit free throw attempts, while getting more buckets at the rim. Meanwhile, at the defensive end, Embiid flew, repeatedly breaking his lobes at Gobert and, in a single possession, challenging a Donovan Mitchell race and then recovering fast enough to block Gobert at the rim.
Embiid said before the start of the season that he was on a mission to prove that the lack of league recognition he received last year was a mistake. Wednesday night was the latest example of the campaign’s success. And while Embiid can’t win Defensive Player of the Year – in fact, Doc Rivers said before the game his teammate Ben Simmons should be at the forefront of people’s votes for this award – games like Wednesday’s are why Embiid is one of the favorites to be the most valuable player in the NBA this season and the Sixers enter the All-Star break with the best record in the Eastern Conference. – Tim Bontemps
It is gaining strength instead in Houston
Nothing about James Harden’s return to the Toyota Center came as no surprise. Harden received a mixed reaction from Rocket fans from the pandemic-sized crowd, as some cheered the appreciation for Houston’s eight spectacular seasons and some booed, revealing Harden’s fresh and painful feelings that forced a transaction back. less than two months.
As he has consistently done since joining the Brooklyn Nets, Harden dominated, recording the eighth triple-double since trading with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists. And the Rockets lost, 132-114, extending the longest franchise skid in two decades to 13 painful games, matching Harden’s shirt number, which will one day be hung by the Houston deer. – Tim MacMahon
Pacers’ McConnell sets a record for robbery
The Indiana Pacers facing the Cleveland Cavaliers was not a great game, but Pacers guard TJ McConnell found a way to steal the spotlight. McConnell had nine steals in the first half, most of any player in a half since the state officially became official in 1973-74.
McConnell finished with 10 steals for the game, a timid one, but had 16 points and 13 assists for a very unusual triple-double in the 114-111 victory in Indiana.
Tonight, TJ McConnell recorded the 11th triple-double with thefts since the thefts became official in 1973-74. He is the first to do it from the bench, according to him @EliasSports.
He is also the first Pacers player with a triple-double on the bench at Detlaf Schrempf in February 1993. pic.twitter.com/u7LL1tPL1M
– ESPN Statistics and Information (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 4, 2021
McConnell was 8-for-8 on the field to become the first player to record 10 steals while shooting 100% of the field in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He had the highest target percentage in a game with 10 or more steals, surpassing Michael Jordan (78% in 1988).
Double triple-double for Detroit
Dennis Smith Jr. and Mason Plumlee are the second pair of teammates in Pistons history, each recording a triple-double in the same game, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
Smith scored the triple-double with the thinnest margin, with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Plumlee had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Detroit defeated the Toronto Raptors 129-105.
The other Pistons triple-double teammates in the same game were Donnie Butcher and Ray Scott, who did it in 1964.