It's not a good time to be a Philadelphia 76ers fan, as Joel Embiid played nothing close to MVP level in their Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics. That 112-88 blowout defeat at the hands of Jayson Tatum and the Celtics is also just being used as fuel by Nikola Jokic fans who believe that Embiid's forgettable performance in the second round of the NBA Playoffs perfectly demonstrates why the Denver Nuggets big man should have won MVP this season.

“It’s really weird to me how ‘lack of postseason success' has always been used as an argument for why Jokic shouldn’t win MVP over Embiid, but Jokic is in his second Conference Finals appearance and Embiid still hasn’t made it out of the second round,” said @AlexHoops_ after Joel Embiid and the Sixers got knocked out by the Celtics.

Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets are through the second round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs and they are gearing for the conference finals matchup against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Jokic has been masterful so far in the postseason, particularly in the second round where he mowed down the loaded Phoenix Suns.

From Justin Termine: “Jokic got killed the last two seasons for not making it past the 2nd round as an MVP— without his two best teammates. What does that mean for Embiid, who actually has all his teammates?”

Here's another hot take from Twitter user @SwipaCam: “I spent the last two months of the season hearing about the reasons Jokic couldn’t win three straight MVPs and they pointed to playoffs and defense. And now Embiid has 13/5/1 on 4/16 FG in a Game 7 down 26 points through three quarters and getting taken advantage of in space.”

In 11 games this postseason, Nikola Jokic has averaged 30.7 points on 54.9 percent shooting from the field, 12.8 rebounds, and 9.7 assists. Embiid, on the other hand, closed out his postseason campaign with averages of just 23.7 (43.1 FG%), 9.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.

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