The Philadelphia 76ers easily beat the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, claiming another victory with a big 131-113 win.
It was a major triumph for the team and especially its lead star, Joel Embiid.
Embiid scored a whopping 53 points and 12 rebounds, the second time this season that he has put up more than 50 points.
Joel Embiid’s 53 points tonight are the most by a player against the Charlotte Hornets since January 25th, 2016, when DeMarcus Cousins had 56 points.
It’s the seventh-highest single game scoring performance ever allowed by Charlotte.
— Evan Birchmore (@EvanBirchmore) December 12, 2022
Embiid’s big game was made even bigger when you look into the history of the Hornets.
Embiid’s 53 points were the most by a player against the Hornets since January 25, 2016, when DeMarcus Cousins scored 56 on Charlotte.
This was the seventh-highest single-game scoring performance ever allowed by Charlotte.
That’s a tough reality for Charlotte to face but it shouldn’t be that shocking when you look at all that ails them.
Hurting Hornets
The Hornets are now 7-20 and sit as the 14th team in the East, just ahead of the Detroit Pistons.
This is not the season that they were planning on but a slew of tough injuries have really slowed them down.
Right now LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Dennis Smith Jr. are all out with no timetable for their returns.
Ball is the centerpiece of the team, the future of the franchise, so losing him hurts more than anyone else.
There was hope that the Hornets would be one of those sneaky, surprising teams that makes noise all season long and even has a promising playoff run.
Now that feels like a pipe dream.
Things can change and the Hornets certainly have enough time to get it together and secure some major wins.
But the chances of them doing that soon, especially without Ball and the others, feels increasingly unlikely.
The Hornets got punished by Embiid the other night and that honestly wasn’t that surprising.
