Tyrese Maxey warned the Philadelphia 76ers must not take Joel Embiid for granted after the NBA MVP's superb showing against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Embiid scored a season-high 51 points and added 12 rebounds as the 76ers won for the seventh time in eight games by casting aside the Western Conference leaders 127-113 on Tuesday.
It is the 12th straight game that Embiid has had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. It is the longest such streak in the NBA since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar went on a 16-game run for the Milwaukee Bucks back in 1971-72.
The only other players to have 12 or more games of 30-10 in league history besides Embiid and Abdul-Jabbar are Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Walt Bellamy.
Maxey, who scored 15 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter, knows the Sixers must not be overly reliant on their talisman.
"I tell everybody, I try not to take it for granted – he does it every night, so consistently, that it's hard not to," Maxey said of Embiid.
"But we expect it of him, he knows we expect it of him. He goes out and performs every single night."
Sixers coach Nick Nurse added: "[Embiid's] continuing to get better and he's just doing enough different things rhythmically to keep those guys guessing.
"He has a feel that if guys step into him, he can get them. And I like when he goes downhill."
As for Embiid, he has no interest in statistics and records unless he is on a winning team.
"We're winning and that's all that matters," he said.
"Stats are great and it's great to put up stats. But if it comes with a loss, then that's a different story. If it comes with a win, it means a lot.
"That's one of the best teams in the league, the best team in the West. We had to get them back. We had some rough patches but kept pushing and got the win."
Maxey, meanwhile, is grateful for the belief Embiid is showing in him.
"He puts the responsibility on me because he believes in me, and I'm glad to just put in the work and try to help him as much as I possibly can, it's been great," he said.