With MVP showdown on horizon, Joel Embiid repositions focus on Sixers-Nuggets

Joel Embiid stepped into a smooth jumper. He finished through multiple Houston Rockets defenders. He paraded to the free-throw line. He extended his streak of games with 30 points and 10 rebounds to 16.

Embiid looked like himself in his return from a three-game absence due to left knee swelling, amassing 41 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes Monday to propel the 76ers to a 124-115 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.

Just in time for Tuesday’s high-profile matchup between the Sixers and the defending champion Denver Nuggets, and superstars Embiid and Nikola Jokić, who have won the last three MVPs and revolutionized the center position.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid returns from knee injury, scores 41 points as Sixers coast to MLK Day victory

Embiid acknowledged that — after missing the last game between these two teams because of a calf injury — he is excited to play against Jokić because, in his words, “Who doesn’t want to play against the best?” Yet Embiid also emphasized that his personal measuring stick is between the Sixers and Nuggets, and reiterated that he is prioritizing health for the playoffs even if it disqualifies him to repeat as MVP.

“I’ve already done it,” Embii said of winning the award. “I’ve always said, ‘I want it all.’ If I have a chance to get a second one, I’ll do it. But I’m not going to force myself or push for it. My game is always going to speak for itself. … If there’s something going on and I can’t make the requirement for the amount of games played to qualify for that, then so be it. One thing we’re not going to do is push for it to try to make that requirement.

“If I’m healthy enough and these guys [the medical staff] are letting me play, then I’ll play. If they’re telling me, ‘You’ve got to chill,’ then I’ll chill.”

Embiid has missed 10 of the Sixers’ 38 games with various injuries and illnesses, putting him on pace to fall short of the new NBA rule that requires players to log at least 20 minutes in 65 games to qualify for end-of-season accolades. Though Embiid was vague Monday about specifics regarding his recent knee issue, he said it was crucial that the Sixers “knew what’s going on” before he returned to the floor.

“It’s been swollen for a while,” Embiid said. “... Hopefully it doesn’t flare up again. Hopefully we did enough work for it to be strong enough.”

If Embiid plays enough games during the regular season, his league-best 34.9 points to go along with 11.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 2.0 blocks are certainly worthy of repeating as MVP. Ditto for Jokić, the 2021 and 2022 winner who ranks third in the NBA in assists (9.3 per game) while also averaging 25.5 points on 58.2% shooting and 11.8 rebounds.

» READ MORE: Is Joel Embiid in danger of not qualifying for MVP? Tracking his games played and path to repeat.

Yet Jokić has always had the edge over Embiid in availability, playing in at least 69 games in each of his eight NBA seasons. That likely gave him the edge for the 2021 award, after Embiid sustained a late-season knee injury. And after Embiid took the 2023 honor, he was hampered by a knee injury during the playoffs, while Jokić led the Nuggets to the NBA title.

That’s why Embiid has continued to draw outside criticism — most recently in a Monday thread on X (formerly Twitter) from the Action Network’s Matt Moore — for the perception that he has missed the bulk of the Sixers’ marquee games so far this season.

He was out for the Sixers’ Christmas showdown at the Miami Heat (a game that fellow star Jimmy Butler also missed) with a sprained ankle, which kept him sidelined for three more games. Though the flu forced him to miss a Dec. 1 loss at Boston, Embiid played in the other two matchups that the teams split so far this season. Embiid also dropped 51 points and 12 rebounds in the Sixers’ Dec. 20 double-digit win against the Minnesota Timberwolves and their top-rated defense, and was one assist shy of a 35-point triple-double in a Nov. 25 win at the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Last season’s March 27 game in Denver, with a narrative swirling that the MVP would be decided that night, came at the end of a four-game road trip. Yet their matchup in Philly earlier in the season was a thriller, with Embiid dropping 47 points, 18 rebounds, and five assists and burying the game-winning bucket over Jokić.

“As soon as you use the name ‘Joel Embiid,’ that’s going to get you a lot of likes and that’s going to get you a lot of money,” Embiid said of those national media opinions. “So as long as my name has a chance to help somebody make some money, then I’m for it.

“Keep trolling. I like it. I love it.”

» READ MORE: How will Joel Embiid’s injuries affect his legacy?

In a quick scouting report of the Nuggets following Monday’s win, coach Nick Nurse lauded Denver’s chemistry, the lethal-yet-versatile two-man game between Jokić and Jamal Murray, and the Nuggets’ size. Facing the Rockets’ Alperen Sengun — whom Embiid said “kind of plays a little bit like who we’re talking about, Nikola” — may have been an advantageous tune-up for Tuesday.

And though Embiid called Jokić “amazing to watch, and even more fun to play against,” he will be measuring the Sixers against the Nuggets on Tuesday night.

“Can we compete against the Denvers, the Bostons, the Milwaukees?” Embiid said. “Those teams that are supposed to win a championship. ... [Tuesday] is another day to kind of judge where we are, to see if we’ve got a chance.”