His name is Joel Embiid, and he has a funny and somewhat annoying way of scuttling your Myles-Turner-is-the-Defensive-Player-of-the-Year narratives. Dammit, Joel!
That’s what this piece was about, and still is about, despite Embiid, the Sixers center and MVP candidate, on Monday torturing Turner and the slumping Pacers in a way that has become strikingly familiar. Embiid scored 24 points with 13 rebounds and a block during 26 minutes in a one-sided Sixers victory and did it on a sore ankle. Turner had 11 points and three rebounds.
One rough game doesn’t destroy a DPOY candidacy — not at all — but in the interest of fairness, Embiid overpowered Turner and the Pacers the way he’s done so often in the past, the way he’s done to almost everybody so far this season. Embiid is averaging 28 points, 12.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 11 matchups with Turner. Turner has averaged 8.5, 5.2 and 0.5 in those games.
