The Sixers were 11-11 after that brutal loss in Boston, and could have very easily fallen below .500 during the remainder of the four-game road trip.

But they didn’t. They responded with a nice win in Atlanta, then caught a short-handed Charlotte team twice, first dispatching the Hornets in overtime and then putting them away in regulation on Wednesday night.

It was Joel Embiid leading the way again, and even though he didn’t shoot 75% from the floor again (which nobody expected, that’s ridiculous), he crested 30 points in 33 minutes with an even higher usage number.

For comparison:

  • Monday (41 minutes): 43 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists, 15-20 FGA, 12-14 FTA, one steal, three turnovers, 33.8% usage
  • Wednesday (33 minutes): 32 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 8-17 FGA, 15-19 FTA, one steal, one turnover, 39.5% usage

I think usage is an important metric in showing just how critical Embiid is to the Sixers’ success. In simple terms, it’s a calculation of what percentage of team plays a specific guy was involved in while on the floor, i.e., who always has the ball in their hands or who does the offense go through?

The top five usage players in the NBA this year are:

  1. Luka Doncic (35.6%)
  2. Joel Embiid (33.9%)
  3. Giannis (33.4%)
  4. Paul George (33.2%)
  5. Trae Young (33%)

The next three are Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.

Furthermore, Joel has a 43.9% usage rate in 54 clutch minutes, which the NBA defines as the last five minutes of the fourth quarter when the game is within five points. So in these instances, he’s being heavily relied upon as a basket-getter and de facto closer.

The real question is whether or not this is a good thing, and the answer is typically no. You want other guys to step it up and share the burden and contribute, instead of being too reliant on one person. Diversity and balance is important, but there are cases where a superstar just runs the show and can take on that kind of volume on a nightly basis. It depends on the makeup of the team. In this case, a 7’2″ center with injury history? You’d like to see a lower regular season number, but it is what it is. Perhaps when they finally trade Ben Simmons they will have a 1B or 1C scorer who can alleviate some of the nightly burden, with Tobias Harris and Seth Curry playing their part.

Beyond that, there’s not much to write about last night’s game. Enjoy some ridiculous highlights instead, on a Thursday morning: