Joel Embiid threw down a marker against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night that had Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers declaring the race for the NBA regular season MVP race as over.
All season long Embiid has been slugging it out with Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo with all three serious contenders for the award.
While Jokic (2021, 2022) and Giannis (2019, 2020) both have back-to-back MVP seasons under their belt - the pair dominating the award over the last four seasons - 76ers star man Embiid is chasing honours for the first time in his career.
Jokic has been the slight favourite to become the first player since Larry Bird to win three successive awards however the last week or so has seen Giannis further his claims - in particular with a starring role against Embiid and the 76ers - and now Embiid deliver a statement performance.
The 29-year-old centre scored 52 of the 76ers points, more than half his team's total in a 103-101 over Boston victory that keeps Philadelphia in with a chance of pinching the second seed from the Celtics.
On the same night Jokic managed just 14 points and eight turnovers as the Nuggets slipped to a surprise defeat in Houston - a defeat that denied them the chance to tie up the Western Conference title. However, Embiid's display, which included a 20-for-25 shooting performance alongside 13 rebounds and 6 assists had Rivers in awe.
"We did so many things wrong, but what we did right was Joel Embiid," he said after the game. "The man just scored half our points in an NBA game. And I'm biased, but the MVP race is over."
Embiid - runner-up to Jokic in each of the last two seasons - is averaging a league-high 33 points and was further endorsed by teammate and 2018 MVP winner James Harden. "Joel should win it. He's been in contention for it the last few years," Harden said.
"He led the league in scoring last year. It looks like he's going to lead the league in scoring this year. We're the third seed in the East. He's been consistent all year."
With just three games left in the regular season, Embiid will look to finish on a high as they face games against Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks before closing out the season next Sunday night at Brooklyn.
Embiid himself refused to get too drawn into the conversation, although he did concede his teammate and coach 'were probably right' when facing the media post game. Boston almost pulled off an unlikely comeback, but players and coach were in unison in saying things will have to improve in the Play-Offs.
"But we got bigger goals. We understand we got a chance but it's not going to be easy," he said. "Tonight, for me, was kind of disappointing because we found so many ways to lose the game, and that's on all of us."
"I'm part of it. I could've been better. You know, I had a couple of dumb plays. ... I could've been better, and we could've been better as a team. Like I said, we got bigger goals in mind, but we got to be better than that."
Embiid would the third consecutive non-American player to win the award and just the second African winner after Nigeria's Hakeem Olajuwon took the honours in 1994.
