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Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić wins NBA MVP over Sixers’ Joel Embiid

Jokić averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists, while playing in all 72 regular-season games. Embiid and Steph Curry were finalists.

Sixers center Joel Embiid reaches for the basketball against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic during the first-quarter in 2019. Jokic just won the NBA MVP over Embiid.
Sixers center Joel Embiid reaches for the basketball against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic during the first-quarter in 2019. Jokic just won the NBA MVP over Embiid.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer
    by Keith Pompey
    Updated 
    Published 

Joel Embiid was denied in his MVP bid.

The 76ers center was a finalist with Denver center Nikola Jokić and Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry.

However, Jokić was named the winner of the award.

“There’s only some things that I can control,” Embiid said. “Obviously, as a team, we had a good year. I was apart of it. It’s disappointing because as a player you work hard for moments like this.

“But then again, it’s out of my control. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

The Nuggets big man averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists, while playing in all 72 regular-season games.

» READ MORE: Sixers-Hawks Game 2: Read live updates here

Meanwhile, Embiid averaged 28.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 blocks. He missed 21 games this season.

“There were a lot of great candidates,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “Between Jokić and Joel, I think it was a two-man race. I guess you can say Steph was thrown in there at the end the way he made a charge .... I do think probably the deciding factor was games played.”

But Jokic was the runaway winner, getting 91 first-place votes and 971 total points. Embiid finished second with 586 total points. He received just one first-place vote. Curry was third with 453 points. He received five first-place votes.

Don’t tell Sixers fans that Jokic was the MVP.

The Wells Fargo Center the crowd chanted “MVP ... MVP ... MVP” several times while Embiid dominated the Atlanta Hawks in Tuesday night’ 118-102 Game 2 victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Embiid’s teammates will tell you he’s their MVP.

“Obviously, there was a period of time when he didn’t play X amount of games,” teammate Tobias Harris said. “Obviously that played a factor into it.

“But we get to the Finals and that’s a goal for our team. You know, go get the MVP there. So that’s just our mentality. We don’t even focus on those things anymore.”

Embiid finished with a career playoff-high 40 points to go with 13 rebounds some 15 minutes after learning Jokic won the award.