Willy Hernangómez scored 24 points twice during his first season in the NBA. The first was with the Spurs and the second against the Raptors, in March and April 2017 respectively. Since then, the Spanish center had never come so close to those figures, although he always showed that, when he played, he was going to produce a lot of statistics in the minutes that they give him Of course, his ability to be effective in attack is inversely proportional to his defensive attitude, which mixes his own indolence with the impotence that it provokes in his coaches. Willy, for this reason, had not played for up to 9 games with the Pelicans, but the loss of Jonas Valanciunas and the legal problems of Jaxon Hayes (complaint of domestic abuse and resistance to authority just a few days ago) they caused him to return to be a starter and play the game of his life in scoring: 29 points and 10 rebounds none other than Joel Embiid.
The party was not complete for the Pelicans, who started ahead and commanded for many minutes, but they did not get the crush. On the first play of the game, Joel Embiid caught the defensive rebound, ran the length of the court and scored in jump without anything stopping him and no player from his team touches the ball. In other words, the representation of what the Sixers are right now, who have (with this one) 12 wins in the last 15 games: a team that is climbing positions in the Eastern Conference (27-19, sixth, one game behind the Cavaliers, fifth) and is feeling fantastic, but he is very dependent on a Joel Embiid who is in his prime and he’s taken care of some really great teams in this streak. Ask the Heat.
Willy had 13 points in the first quarter and 21 at halftime, but Embiid quickly got fed up. In the end, 42 points (24 in the second half, in which he did cancel Willy), 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks for the Cameroonian, who continues to be touched by a wand and received a standing ovation when he decided not to play the last possession. He hugged first with Willy, with whom he could in his attack but whom he could not control in defense, something that speaks highly of the Spaniard, who played the best scoring game of his career against who may be, at the moment, the top contender for Best Defender of the NBA season. With 7 minutes to go, the Sixers only had one (98-97). After this came the crazy logic of a team that is bad, but being bad, it is only 2 wins away from the play-in, a tenth place behind the Blazers that they are not going to count on Damian Lillard anymore (it seems). Neither, of course, with desire, illusion or effort. Returning to Philadelphia: from 98-97 to 110-98 first, and to the final 117-107. little more to add.
The top scorer for the Pelicans was, with 31 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and up to 5 players reached double figures on Willie Green’s team, including a Hayes who was available and he went to 15+5, but he stayed on the bench in the last minutes, in which the pivot position was occupied by Willy. In the Sixers, Tobias Harris showed that, from time to time, he can be a differentiating factor: 33 points with 11 rebounds for him. And, meanwhile, we continue to get closer to the closing of the transfer market (it’s February 10) Embiid’s exhibitions follow one another, Ben Simmons is still a Sixers player and Daryk Morey does nothing more than leak things to the press with different ideas that are causing Twitter to go crazy with implausible proposals and some more than questionable proposals for change. That’s where the NBA moves right now, in the narrative of the rumors and the legendary level of Joel Embiid. A man who has prevented the party of a Willy who has stood up to him. And that, of course, is saying a lot.
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