Joel Embiid was praised for an "effortless" shooting performance after he led the Philadelphia 76ers to a 131-126 victory over the Washington Wizards with a season-high 50 points.

The reigning NBA MVP, who also grabbed 13 rebounds, hit the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his career on Wednesday.

Washington (3-17) was in with a chance of an upset as they led in the fourth quarter but the 76ers prevailed to improve to 13-7 on the season with a key road win.

Embiid was 19 of 24 from the floor and 11 of 13 from the foul line. He also had seven assists and six turnovers in just over 38 minutes.

Tyrese Maxey added 26 points and De'Anthony Melton chipped in with 19 as Philadelphia averted a third straight loss.

"I felt like it was one of those nights where I had to be aggressive and get it going," Embiid said after the game. 

"Sometimes your team needs you to be a playmaker, but sometimes they need you to score.

"But they made passes, they made the right plays every single time and I just finished them."

Melton felt it was a game that showed how important Embiid is to the team, with the 76ers now set to play three of their next four games at home, including another clash with the Wizards on Monday.

"That's why he's the MVP," Melton said. "He's our safety valve – offensively and defensively.

"He covers up for a lot of our mistakes defensively and then offensively he can bail us out late and make some shots.

"He was just going out there effortlessly shooting the ball and scoring."

Philadelphia is fourth in the Eastern Conference standings and are next in action at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.