The Philadelphia 76ers were staring down the barrel of a possible Game 3 loss when the Toronto Raptors looked to comfortably be winning the game through the first two quarters. However, the 76ers fought back in the third and managed to stretch the game and take it into overtime.
Overtime was a razor-close affair as well, with the game destined to go into 2OT with the games tied at 101. However, that is when Joel Embiid did to Toronto what they did to him in 2019 and hit a buzzer-beater to beat the Raptors in a playoff game. While it wasn’t in Game 7 like Kawhi’s, this gave Philly an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Fans were in awe of Embiid’s performance, who has been the sole leader of this 76ers team even after the addition of James Harden and the emergence of Tyrese Maxey. Considering Jokic’s struggles at the moment, Embiid may be making a case for MVP in the eyes of the fans, even though voting for the award is already in the books.
EMBIID FOR THREE WITH 0.7 LEFT IN OT 😱 https://t.co/mGayMHD6W1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 21, 2022
FOR THE WIN! pic.twitter.com/ASfkbkNNsm
— KENNY BEECHAM (@KOT4Q) April 21, 2022
https://twitter.com/MindOfReese/status/1516973083822891010
M V P BUCKET !
— PeeWeeDaPlug (@PeeWeeDaPlug) April 21, 2022
And that
Is destiny fulfilled pic.twitter.com/vXMMmc9YAO
— Dom2K 🎅🎇 (@Dom_2k) April 21, 2022
The MVP is a regular season award. Go get the Finals MVP big fella.
— Bibs (@BibsCorner) April 21, 2022
That’s mvp shit right there embiid
— Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) April 21, 2022
I'm sorry, I'll take Embiid over Jokic any day or night or overtime.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 21, 2022
Embiid terrorizing the raptors like how LeBron used to
— . (@latelynoton) April 21, 2022
That was a grownup superstar moment for Joel Embiid. Took Toronto’s best punch, bounced back from a tough first half and shut up the road crowd. Most impressive moment of his career.
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) April 21, 2022
That second half is one of the most dominant two-way performances I've seen from Joel Embiid.
Shut down the rim, contained switches, deterred jumpers, scored in a variety of ways, including a movement 3 for the win. Stellar.
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) April 21, 2022
The 76ers took the best shot the Raptors could hit him with tonight and still persevered. That will probably be a big blow to the morale of the Raptors players, who lost despite arguably being the better team. However, playoff series are usually decided by which team has the best player, and Embiid’s 33-point performance proved nobody on the Raptors matches up to him.
Embiid saw Kawhi Leonard hit one of the most incredible threes of all time in Game 7 of the 2019 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, a game Embiid left in tears after that shot eliminated his 76ers. This was his revenge. While it wasn’t as big a moment as what happened in 2019, this definitely will allow him to exorcise those demons and make a championship push this post-season.
