'MVP race is over': Joel Embiid's 50-point game earns praise from Doc Rivers after 76ers win

Gilbert McGregor

'MVP race is over': Joel Embiid's 50-point game earns praise from Doc Rivers after 76ers win image

With the race for the 2022-23 NBA MVP award coming down to the season's final games, 76ers superstar Joel Embiid turned in a resounding MVP statement. His coach did, too.

In a crucial two-point win over the Celtics, Embiid dominated his way to 52 points (on 20-of-25 shooting), 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks in 39 minutes of action. The performance prompted Sixers head coach Doc Rivers to give quite the endorsement for his starting center.

"The MVP race is over," Rivers said following Embiid's performance. "Tonight, we couldn't make shots, we had guys [missing] open shots — the man just scored half our points, in an NBA game. And I'm biased, but the MVP race is over."

The numbers don't lie — Embiid scored 52 of Philadelphia's 103 points in the game, and outside of his 20-of-25 shooting, the rest of the team shot 19 of 53 (35.8 percent) from the field.

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Tuesday night marked Embiid's third 50-point game of the season and brought his league-leading scoring average up to 33.3 points per game with three games remaining until the NBA Playoffs.

The race that Rivers is referring to is between Embiid and the league's two-time MVP award winners — Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP.

While it once appeared as though Jokic was well on his way to a rare third consecutive MVP, Embiid has made a strong push over the last several weeks, making him the odds-on favorite to take home the award.

In each of the last two seasons, Embiid finished second in MVP voting behind only Jokic. This year could be quite different.

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Rivers' endorsement comes just days after Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard expressed his belief that Embiid should take home MVP honors for his body of work during the 2022-23 season.

Neither Lillard nor Rivers have an MVP vote, but their endorsements do seem to be a reflection of the public opinion of Embiid's MVP candidacy. In just a few weeks' time, we'll see if the voters are of that same opinion.

Gilbert McGregor

Gilbert McGregor Photo

Gilbert McGregor first joined The Sporting News in 2018 as a content producer for Global editions of NBA.com. Before covering the game, McGregor played basketball collegiately at Wake Forest, graduating with a Communication degree in 2016. McGregor began covering the NBA during the 2017-18 season and has been on hand for a number of league events.