Joel Embiid got a close look at Victor Wembaneyama and immediately got to work against the Spurs rookie.
Embiid scored a franchise-record 70 points and had a career-best 18 rebounds, five assists, one steal and a block in the 76ers' 133-123 win over San Antonio on Monday night.
The 29-year-old from Cameroon broke Wilt Chamberlain's record of 68 points in a game, set in 1967.
The victory marks the 76ers' sixth straight win and extends Philadelphia's home winning streak to four games.
Meanwhile, Wenbanyama had 33 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks on the night. It comes after Embiid was caught on camera jokingly measuring the 7-foot-4 Frenchman's size during warmups.
At 7 feet tall, Embiid is hardly an undersized player in NBA height measurement contests.
He didn't flinch in the face of being the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, effortlessly scoring on 24-of-41 shooting, hitting a 13-foot shot that was better than a rookie, and a 3-pointer in 27 seconds. He reacted by scoring two. .
It took just three quarters for Embiid to match his previous career-high with 59 points, and when he re-entered the game with 6:38 remaining, his 76ers teammates continued to feed him the ball.
To celebrate, they doused him with water during his postgame on-court interview.
Embiid has scored 30 or more points in 21 consecutive games.
The current Eastern Conference player of the week entered Monday's game for the 76ers averaging 35 points, 11.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.9 blocks as the front-runner for league MVP.
