On the day that Marc Gasol was honored in Memphis with the retirement of his jersey, another NBA beast, Joel Embiid, joined the celebration in the only way he knows how, with another great display to defeat the Grizzlies (96-116), weighed down this season by injuries and all kinds of misfortunes.

On a day like this it would have been great for them to have Marc Gasol back in his prime in the team, a player who was already able to stop the Philadelphia star when he won the ring with the Raptors in 2019, as recalled for MARCA the coach and assistant of that team Sergio Scariolo.

Because there are very few centers in the world who can counter Joel Embiid's infinite potential when he rolls up his sleeves. And Marc Gasol was one of them. The Cameroonian took the fragile Grizzlies by storm with a superlative performance: 30 points (7/11 t2, 2/2 t3 and 10/13 tl), 12 rebounds, one assist and two blocks in 23 minutes!

It was the star's formidable calling card in his third game back from meniscus surgery on his left knee. And in those three games, without being at full strength (although it seems so), he has scored 83 points in 84 minutes on the court. He scored 24 in 29 minutes against the Thunder, 29 in 33 with the Heat, and 30 in 23 at Memphis. And the Sixers won all three games with him. If there is a differential player, it is him.

"I'm still a little off," Embiid said after the game with his usual modesty. "I'm not used to the pace I was in before I got hurt. I just have to get used to that rhythm," he added. But the truth is that his coach and teammates are amazed with his performances after his long convalescence. "I like some of the stuff. Obviously we had to run several different types of games for him," said Nick Nurse, who doesn't want to put pressure on his star player: "He's working his way back."

With four games left in the regular season, the Sixers are eighth (43-35), but have the Miami Heat (43-34), Indiana Pacers (44-34), New York Knicks and Orlando Magic (45-22) within reach. And with Embiid at this level, it is not out of the question that they will avoid the Play-In, although the Cameroonian does not fear any crossover: "We don't care, we just want to play good basketball, win and get a good rhythm. If the guys are healthy, wherever we fall, we'll be fine".

For the Grizzlies, the best player was Scotty Pippen jr., son of Michael Jordan's legendary Bulls squire, who scored 24 points (2/4 three-pointers), two rebounds, five assists and two steals in his first NBA game with at least 20 points.