NBA fans were looking forward to Sunday's matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Denver Nuggets that would provide a one-on-one battle between MVP candidates Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic.

Unfortunately, Embiid was a late scratch after reportedly dealing with knee soreness during the 76ers' pregame warmups.

Under new NBA rules, the 76ers star is creeping up on the number of games he can miss this season while still being eligible for his second straight NBA MVP award, according to RealGM:

“Joel Embiid Can Only Miss Six More Games And Remain Eligible For Postseason Awards”

This was Embiid's 11th missed game of the 2023-24 season so far. That means that the 76erss star center can only miss six more games this season in order to remain eligible for postseason awards, including repeating as NBA MVP.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, players must play in at least 65 games to be eligible for postseason awards.

It didn't take long for the news to spread on social media, as Embiid not appearing in games in Denver has become a regular pattern lately. In fact, the last time Denver Nuggets fans got to see Embiid play in Denver was in 2019.

Within minutes of the game starting, fans at Ball Arena started to loudly chant “Where's Embiid at?” The chanting was loud enough that even the TV broadcast crew made note of it.

The Nuggets played the 76ers a few weeks ago where Philadelphia was able to beat the Nuggets 126-121.

Fans hoping for a rematch on Sunday will need to hope for an NBA Finals matchup between the two teams.