I can only imagine the sound of the boisterous chants of “MVP” coming from the Sixers faithful Wednesday night after Joel Embiid’s three-pointer sending the game against the Jazz into overtime.
Heck, I even wanted to cup my ear to hear “y'all voices,” reminiscing on the days of Allen Iverson on the very same court 20 years ago.
All Embiid did last night was drop 40 points and 19 rebounds against the league’s best team, which also has a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert.
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It’s the fifth time all season the Sixers center recorded a 40-point/10-rebound game. Everyone else in the NBA has combined to achieve that feat four times this season.
Per NBC Sports betting partner PointsBet, Embiid’s dominating performance has now instilled him as the favorite to take home MVP honors, surpassing LeBron James. Embiid was listed at +200 right after another heroic performance. Those numbers have now dipped to +160 ($10 bet to win $16).
Here’s a list of the top 5 on the board:
- Joel Embiid +160
- LeBron James +275
- Nikola Jokic +400
- Luka Doncic +700
- Stephen Curry +1000
What a difference a couple of months make!
NBA
Back in December, Embiid was listed at +3300 ($10 bet to win $330) to be named MVP. Then, in early February, those numbers dropped to +800 ($10 bet to win $80).
The four-time All-Star has not been shy in stating his desire to win the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award. However, from a betting perspective, his dream at this time still appears to be a long shot.
PointsBet has Embiid (+800) listed with the fourth-best odds, trailing odds-on favorite Gobert (-304), Myles Turner (+400) and teammate Ben Simmons (+600).
All Embiid did this week against Gobert and Turner is average 32 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.5 blocks. Oh, and he shot nearly 55 percent from the field.
Yes, it’s just two games and the award looks at the overall body of work ... but that’s some body of work against two of the game's best.
This may be worth monitoring as we gear up for the second half of the season.
PointsBet is NBC Sports Official Sports Betting Partner, and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.