The 18th version of the Philadelphia Sports Statistic of the Week will not be pulling punches. It won’t be something that I decided to pinpoint or a small section of social media discourse has been about. It will be giving flowers yet again, and deservedly so, to All-Star and All-NBA center Joel Hans Embiid. Of course, this is going to be another Embiid is such a magnificent player on both sides of the court that the level that he is at is almost indescribable through words. Now that the hyperbole is out of the way, let’s get to the Philly Sports Stat of the Week.

Philly Sports Stat of the Week: Joel Embiid recorded his 24th 35-point game. The most by a center since Shaquille O’Neal’s 23 35-point games in his 1999-2000 MVP season and Moses Malone’s 25 35-point games in his 1981-1982 MVP season. 

Joel Embiid has been absolutely a marvel to watch on the court this season. Somehow the big man has found a way to get better as a scorer. Embiid is averaging almost a full three points per game more than he did last year when he led the NBA in scoring for the season. He’s on pace to be the first center to lead the league in scoring back-to-back years since Shaquille O’Neal. 

In the win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, March 15th, Embiid was the sole offense that powered the team to victory. The 7-footer posted 36 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 assists on 12-19 shooting from the field, 2-5 from the three-point line, and 10-10 from the free-throw line in 38 minutes of play. In the month of March, Embiid has not scored less than 30 points in a game and has shot lower 57 percent one time. 

Oddly enough, both Moses Malone and Shaquille O’Neal tallied their career-high of points in a game in the MVP seasons mentioned. Embiid posted his career-high in a game this year as well. Embiid put up 59 points against the Utah Jazz on November 13th, 2022. Shaq scored 61 points against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 6th, 2000. Malone racked up 53 points against the San Diego Clippers on February 2nd, 1982. 

Honorable Mentions: Conversational Stats 

The honorable mentions will be dedicated to giving anyone who reads this site a stat to store in the back of their mind. I don’t like to assume but I tend to assume that anyone who reads this site is most likely the ‘sports person’ for someone in their life. So the long list of honorable mentions made me think I was giving out participation trophies for the bases of Philadelphia Sports. 

Honorable Mention #1: Against the Wiz on 3/12, the Sixers bench scored 41 points—the 13th-highest this year for the team. 

Honorable Mention #2: The Big 5 Update – Villanova men’s basketball missed the tournament for the first time since 2013 and to pile on, the team fell to Liberty in the first round 62-57. One thing worth noting is that a projected lottery pick Cam Whitmore didn’t even play. The universities of Temple, LaSalle, Drexel, and Penn did not make the NCAA, the NIT, or the CBI  Tournaments. 

Honorable Mention #3: Flyers Cut Fletcher Loose- President and GM Chuck Fletcher was relieved of his duties from the Flyers. Fletcher was only the ninth GM in team history.

Honorable Mention #4: Union Update-The Philadelphia Union defeated Alianza Football Club 4-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League. Star defenseman and potent goal scorer Daniel Gazdag tallied the 2nd goal. Gazdag tallied a career-high 19 goals last year and has 2 goals in the young MLS season. 

Honorable Mention #5: Eagles Building Their Roster — The Eagles have been busy, like all NFL teams, as the league year began on Wednesday. Jason Kelce (1yr/14M), Brandon Graham (1yr/6M) Boston Scott (1yr/2M), James Bradberry (3yr/38M, 20M guaranteed, w/ an additional 6M in incentives), Rashaad Penny (1yr/1.35M, only 600k guaranteed, and max value of 2.1M), Fletcher Cox (1yr/10M), Greedy Williams (1yr/M), and Marcus Mariota (1yr/5M)

Honorable Mention #6: Phillies Spring Training Notables- 4 young guys are leading the Phillies in HRs this spring training (Darick Hall has 5, Edmundo Sosa has 4, Alec Bohm has 3, Jake Cave has 2, and Kody Clemens has 2) (minimum 20 ABs). 

Honorable Mention #7: World Baseball Classic Phillies Stat Update (as of this post) – Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner are one of four USA players to have hit an HR in the WBC. J.T. Realmuto leads the team in BA as he is hitting .600.

Jose Alvarado looks solid in his 2 games, 2 innings of work, and a save for Venezuela. 

Former Phillies Hector Neris has continued his great pitching in the WBC for the DR as he has 3 appearances, 2.1 IP, a 0.00 ERA, and 4 strikeouts. 

Taijuan Walker pitched 4 innings of scoreless ball, striking out 8, and allowing one hit in a 2-1 win over Great Britain.