Ohm YoungmisukESPN Staff Writer2:47 AM ET3 Minute Read
DENVER — Nikola Jokic failed to face Joel Embiid in a highly anticipated duel with MVP branches Monday night.
While Embiid sat out with a right calf injury, Jokic delivered his 29th triple-double of the season to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 116-111 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Ball Arena.
The Sixers seeded both Embiid and James Harden (sore left Achilles), while Jokic amassed 25 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. After that, Jokic, the two-time reigning MVP, gave nothing but high praise for the Sixers superstar, who was looking to win his own MVP crown.
“I think he’s a great player,” Jokic said of Embiid. “I think he will be remembered as one of the most dominant players in the league. The guy is a beast and he’s so talented.
“He can influence [the game] many paths on the ground. He can post, he can uncover, he can shoot 3s. He can defend very well. He can defend 1 to 5 in some situations. So he’s a really, really good player.”
Monday’s contest was set to be a final regular-season showdown between two of the leading MVP contenders, a chance for Jokic and Embiid to make a strong case for voters.
For Jokic, this should be his second straight game against another leading MVP contender. On Saturday, Jokic faced Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and helped the Nuggets beat the Bucks 129-106. Jokic had 31 points, 11 assists and six rebounds while putting defensive player of the year nominee Brook Lopez in deep trouble.
Then on Monday morning, the Sixers decided to hold out Embiid to give his sore right calf some rest amid their busy schedule.
In her only other regular-season matchup, Embiid exploded for 47 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks in a 126-119 win over the Nuggets on Jan. 28 in Philadelphia. Jokic had 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.
The MVP debate has been a hot topic this season, with Embiid leading the league with 33.3 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game. He recently had a scoring tear and started the month of March with 10 straight 30-point games, the first center to do so since Shaquille O’Neal in 2001.
Meanwhile, the leading Western Conference nuggets endured a rough patch in early March, losing four straight games and five of six. But they have since won four in a row.
Jokic aims to become the fourth player to win three consecutive MVP awards, after Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.
The big man from Denver has five triple-doubles and 105 in his career this month, one narrowly tying LeBron James for the fifth-most in NBA history.
When asked about the discourse surrounding the MVP race, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said people should appreciate Embiid and Jokic.
“It’s like we can’t celebrate people,” Rivers said before the game. “The league is in a great place. She is in an amazing place. You have Joel Embiid and Joker, two centers, in a non-central league dominating the league. They have Giannis, and I’ve always called him a whatever because we don’t know what [position] Giannis is, but he’s one of the best players in the league. Jayson Tatum is amazing. Kevin Durant when he wasn’t injured. You can just keep going.
“You can like them all, and you can’t like one because you love the other. But you don’t have to hate anyone. I think we just have to reassess what your tastes are, and I don’t think you have to hate the other, for sure.”