Karpuc: Joel Embiid Is Going To Go Off On Saturday Night
The 76ers center is going to absolutely dominate the Kings tonight
Dan Karpuc - Jan 29, 2022, 11:07am EST
The Pick: Joel Embiid Over 32.5 Points vs. Kings
The Philadelphia 76ers are double-digit home favorites against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night and BetQL is projecting the Sixers to score 117 points.
A large chunk of that production will come from superstar center Joel Embiid, who is projected to score 36 points, over the 32.5-point total that’s listed across most sportsbooks right now.
Embiid has gone over this number in four of his last five games and despite the fact that he was double-teamed, triple-teamed and individually defended by Anthony Davis, he still put up 26 in that one. His other outputs in the five-game stretch: 42, 38, 40 and 50 points. Overall in the last five games, Embiid has averaged 39.2 points per game on 55.6% shooting (69-134) and 80.3% free throw shooting (53-66) and the 76ers have won four of those five games as a result.
He’s attempted 20+ field goals in seven consecutive games and leads all NBA players with a 36.9% usage rate. Over his last five games, that’s ballooned all the way to 46.3% (8.1% over the next-highest mark in that span).
Not only all of that, but no team has been worse defensively than the Kings this month (118.5 Defensive Rating) and they’ve been especially terrible over their last 5 games (126.6 Defensive Rating), allowing 121, 128, 133, 133 and 118 points, respectively.
At this point, it’s difficult not to expect Embiid to put up huge scoring numbers in any matchup, but in this one, he should eat. I wouldn’t be shocked if he surpasses this mark by the end of the third quarter (or even by halftime).
