PHILADELPHIA • It is not every day that a player scores his career high in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and even rarer that two would achieve the feat with the same number of 50 points on the same day.
But to Joel Embiid and Jamal Murray, it was just another nonchalant day at the office.
Philadelphia’s Embiid and Denver’s Murray both stole the show on Friday night, with Murray becoming the first to reach the mark without attempting a free throw and Embiid also grabbing a whopping 17 rebounds.
All-Star Embiid led the 76ers to a 112-105 victory over the Chicago Bulls. He added five assists, four blocks and two steals in a dynamic game in Philadelphia.
The Cameroonian forward was 17 of 26 from the field and 15 of 17 from the free-throw line as he eclipsed the 49 points he scored against the Atlanta Hawks one year ago.
“My teammates found me. I am pretty happy about what we did,” he said. “I have got to get the job done. That’s my job, that’s why they pay me.
“The only difference from this year and last year is about me being willing to dominate every single moment I’m on the floor on defence and on offence.
“I’ve been adding a lot to my game and it’s been working well.”
Tobias Harris contributed 22 points, 12 rebounds in the win as the Eastern Conference-leading Sixers improved to 20-10. Danny Green scored 13 points and reserve Dwight Howard had 10 rebounds.
It was Philadelphia’s second consecutive win without Ben Simmons, who skipped the game with stomach illness.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 30 points, Wendell Carter added 15 and Thad Young scored 12 as Chicago (12-16) had their two-game winning streak halted.
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0 Free throws Denver’s Jamal Murray took en route to 50 points.
In the other game, Canada’s Murray scored a regular-season career high as the Nuggets crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers 120-103 in Cleveland.
Murray, who scored 50 points in two play-off games last season, surpassed his previous high of 48 points in Denver’s 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics in November 2018.
“I was just making my shots,” he said nonchalantly between sips of a post-game smoothie.
“It’s kind of cool to make history. It’s a cool stat. Once I saw a few go down, it just took off from there.”
Murray, whose mother is from Syria and father was born in Jamaica, made 21 of 25 shots from the floor and drained eight threes for the Nuggets, who improved to 16-13 in the West.
Oddly enough, the guard did not have a free throw in his 50 points. NBA Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had 48 each, held the previous record.
Michael Porter scored 22 points in the first half, and birthday boy Nikola Jokic had a triple-double of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the Nuggets.
American Collin Sexton scored 23 points, and Jarrett Allen tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Cavaliers (10-20), who extended their losing streak to nine games.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS