This season, the Philadelphia 76ers are in blazing form. They’ve had an excellent start to the season and haven’t taken their foot off the gas pedal at all. Their superstars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons have improved their games this season.

While Simmons is a frontrunner for the DPOY, Embiid is making a strong case for becoming the regular season MVP. Tonight, the terrific duo matched up against the Western Conference leaders, the Utah Jazz.

In an overtime clash, the game ended with a scoreline of 131-123 in favor of the 76ers. Embiid, in particular, completely dominated the Jazz. He finished the game with 40 points and 19 rebounds!

Prior to the game, there was a lot of chatter around the league who will be victorious in the battle of Embiid and Rudy Gobert. When the dust settled, it was quite obvious that Embiid overpowered Rudy.

Joel Embiid talks about Rudy Gobert

After the stunning victory, Joel Embiid sat down for the post-game conference. He took this opportunity to reply back to his critics. Embiid said:

“Well, first of all, according to Keith Pompey, I’m scared of [Rudy Gobert] and I’m scared of top centers. So, as we saw tonight, it looks like I was very, very scared of him. So, yeah, keep talking.”

Embiid didn’t hold back at all during the interview as he trolled his critics for saying he is scared of the top centers in the NBA. But at the end of the day, facing players like Gobert helped Embiid in getting closer to his dreams.

“Going up against him, one of my goals is to also be Defensive Player of the Year. When you go against those types of guys, he’s a great player, he does a lot for his team that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, but when you go against those guys, it brings something else in my game.

“I want to dominate on the offensive end, but mainly the defensive end. That’s the goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year.”

So far, Embiid is definitely having a career altering year. He is doing everything a team can ask from their leader. But can the Philly star lead his team to an NBA Championship? Feel free to share your views in the comments section.