Joel Embiid On MVP Talk: "I'm Just Trying To Win"

Following another dominant performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid gave his thoughts on the MVP race.

Joel Embiid is one of the best offensive players in the entire league and after leading the league in scoring a season ago, the Philadelphia 76ers star leads the league in scoring yet again at 33.5 points per game, which would be the most points any player has averaged in a season since James Harden's 34.3 points per game average during the 2019-20 season. 

Coincidently enough, Harden is now Embiid's teammate and while a lot of the MVP talk has been centered on Denver Nuggets two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid continues to make his case for this season's award on a nightly basis. 

On Wednesday in Cleveland taking on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Embiid recorded 36 points on 12-19 shooting, 18 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and a steal. He was also a perfect 10-10 from the free-throw line. 

This marked Embiid's seventh consecutive 30-point game and in this span, the 76ers have gone 6-1 to pull within a game of the Boston Celtics for the 2-seed in the Eastern Confernce.

After another dazzling performance, Embiid was asked about this season's MVP race and ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth inquired about what is fueling the Sixers' star down the stretch run of the season. 

"Man, I'm trying to win," Embiid said. "You know, trying to rack up as much wins as we can and like I said, trying to get the group together and doing our job like tonight, down 12, we've had to fight all season long, especially going down, and we keep coming back. My teammates are making my job easy, so I am just going out there and they have a lot of trust in me, them and the coaches, but we are doing it as a team. It isn't about me, it isn't about James [Harden].

"Whatever I do out there is not about me, it is about the whole team."

Postgame with @JoelEmbiid pic.twitter.com/qSYOtM4F1p

— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) March 16, 2023

Wednesday's win over Cleveland marked the 12th time this season that the Sixers have overcome a 13-plus-point deficit, the most in the NBA, and they have had one of the best records in the league since the start of 2023. 

As for Joel Embiid, he is now averaging 36.6 points per game in the month of March on 60.3 percent shooting from the floor, 47.6 percent from three-point range and 83.5 percent from the free-throw line. 

He is also averaging 8.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game this month. 

"We're getting there," Embiid said in regards to how playoff-ready the Sixers are. "We've got a long way to go. I'm excited because like I told you, taking my game to a new level, first a foremost defensively and then offensively. I'm excited about the postseason, but we got a lot of games coming up left in the regular season so gotta take one at a time and try to get better every single day."

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