The hotly contested NBA MVP race appears to be over with less than a week remaining in the regular season.

Joel Embiid made sure of that.

The 76ers star center delivered arguably his best performance of the entire season on Tuesday, scoring 52 points with 13 rebounds on 20-of-25 shooting (80%) to bury the Celtics in a critical game for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference.

It also bolstered Embiid’s case as the MVP front-runner at BetMGM, where he’s now dealing as an overwhelming -600 favorite to win the award – well ahead of two-time MVP winners Nikola Jokic (+700) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (+800).

Tuesday’s monumental effort from Embiid was the latest twist in this year’s dramatic MVP race, which has seen multiple players atop the oddsboard before settling into a two-man race as of late.

After winning each of the last two MVP awards, Jokic was dealing as high as 30/1 in November before wrestling away the top spot by January – where he’s remained for almost the entire season, with odds as short as -400 just a few weeks ago.

Embiid, who’s finished second behind Jokic each of the last two seasons, made an inspired push over the last month and took over as the favorite in mid-March before surrendering that spot again last week.

Then Jokic hit the bench for three games, and Embiid was dealing as the -210 favorite again as recently as Tuesday morning.

Then came Embiid’s Herculean performance against the Celtics, which has all but closed the door on this year’s race in oddsmakers’ minds.

Tuesday’s game marked the third time this year that Embiid scored 50 points, becoming just the third center to accomplish that feat in a single season in the history of the NBA.

He also became one of just two players ever to record 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 80% from the floor; Wilt Chamberlain did it twice.

That performance prompted coach Doc Rivers to practically anoint Embiid as the MVP after the game, joining the chorus of NBA players, coaches, and analysts alike who have finally called for the two-time runner-up to break through this season.

And while this year’s race is likely closer on paper than these odds suggest, it’s hard to argue that Embiid won’t be hoisting his first MVP trophy in a few weeks.