PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers get their first look at the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic facing off always makes for must-see TV, though the bigger picture looms over two of the NBA's best talents going head-to-head.
The 76ers will see the Nuggets on the second night of a back-to-back, an indefensibly bad choice by the league for the first matchup of the season between two superstars who have competed for the MVP for three years now. But the show, as they say, must go on. After Philly defeated the Houston Rockets on Monday afternoon, Embiid once again issued some huge praise for his counterpart.
“They just won a championship so they deserve to hold that title. Best player in the league in Nikola — I always say amazing to watch and even more fun to play against,” the 76ers big man said. “It's fun to see other bigs dominate the game the way it's been happening whether it's him, some of the other guys. Fun matchup. We excited about it.”
The 76ers have been better this season in part by taking a page out of the Nuggets' playbook and using more motion around Embiid and unlocking his playmaking abilities. Embiid's 5.9 assists per game pale in comparison to Jokic's 9.3 but they are still a career-high that shows his improvement. Just as he did last season, he scores more than the Nuggets' superstar (34.9 points per game compared to 25.5) while possessing superior defensive capabilities and inferior scoring efficiency, though that gap is closing.
While the Jokic vs. Embiid debates remain ceaseless, Embiid is focused on the bigger picture of two great teams, not simply players, squaring off.
“The main thing is, the only thing I don't want anybody to get caught up with is the matchup between us. This is Denver and Philadelphia, trying to get a win. They're going to be hard to guard, best team league and the best player in the league. So, we gotta try to do our best to try to get a win.”
Joel Embiid focused on 76ers vs. Nuggets, not himself vs. Nikola Jokic
“It's fun. I like the competition,” Embiid said of the matchup. “Who doesn't want to play against the best?”
Embiid and Jokic have always been billed as rivals but the relationship between the two of them doesn’t show it. The superstar giants have given each other tons of praise over the years. When asked for his top-five opponents in the league, Jokic named Embiid first.
For Embiid, the biggest story from this matchup is the 76ers and the Nuggets. Philly has its sights set on what Denver accomplished last year. There isn’t a much better barometer to gauge a team's title chances than a matchup with the defending champions.
“It's fun to play against the best,” he said. “You kind of measure yourself and you see where you are with those guys. Like I said, what also gets lost into it is the matchup between two teams. I'm not really trying to measure myself to those guys. I'm measuring my team, where we at. Can we compete against the Denvers, the Bostons, the Milwaukees, those teams that are supposed to win a championship, like where we are? So, tomorrow is another day to kind of judge what we are to see if you got a chance.”
The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks serve as important litmus tests for the 76ers, too. Philly has gone 1-2 against Boston this season (though one loss came when Embiid and Maxey sat) and lost their lone matchup so far against Milwaukee. Unfortunately for both sides, the game tonight is riddled with injury concerns.
Denver may not be at full strength for this game, as all five of its starters are listed as questionable on the injury report and key reserve Julian Strawther has been ruled out. De'Anthony Melton is sidelined for Philly while the status of Embiid, who recently dealt with knee swelling, has not yet been determined. Nick Nurse said after yesterday’s game that the expectation is that Embiid will play.
Tyrese Maxey, who will spend much of the game going mano a mano with Jamal Murray trying to create offense for his team, is right there with Embiid in enjoying the matchup against the highest levels of competition.
“The defending champs are coming here,” Maxey said. “So until somebody knocks 'em off, until somebody wins it, that's what they are. So it'll be a good test for us and a good home game for us. Think it should be fun.”
Nurse recognizes the superb two-man game between Jokic and Murray and how they can use every set in the book to score or set up teammates. Denver's Michael Malone is a top-notch coach who should have his hands full with Nurse, too.
“Obviously, a lot of respect for them, defending champions coming in,” he said. “Very talented and been together now for quite a long time. You can see their chemistry and I call 'em little pet plays that when they really need buckets, they got a lot of things in their bag to go to just because they have been together that kind of core group for a while.
Key absences may be a defining factor of the first 76ers-Nuggets game of the season. Fortunately, the second one is scheduled for next weekend with each team getting a full day of rest before it.
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