While Denver Nuggets home fans didn't take too kindly the absence of Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid from Saturday night's matchup versus the reigning NBA champions, Nikola Jokic had nothing but praises for the Sixers center.
During the postgame interview after the 111-105 Nuggets win, Jokic expressed his amazement of Embiid's body of work in the 2023-24 NBA season.
“If you're a basketball fan or a soccer fan or NFL fan, the things that he's doing right now, it's historic, and we need to appreciate that,” Jokic said before making his way to the dugout.
Embiid was ruled out for the 76ers-Nuggets game due to left knee soreness even though he was not on the initial injury report for the said contest. That led to fans expressing their frustrations over the missed opportunity to witness two of the best big men (and players) in the game today go at each other again. Embiid's absence came just a little over a week since the 76ers beat the Nuggets in the City of Brotherly Love, 126-121. In that game, Embiid dropped 41 points with 10 rebounds, while shooting 13-for-22 from the field and 12-for-15 from the free-throw line. Jokic, on the other hand, led the Nuggets with 25 points to go with 19 rebounds in a losing effort.
This time around, Jokic and the Nuggets made sure they wouldn't get denied the win, as they capitalized on the absence of Embiid. The Sixers made the contest much more competitive than expected thanks to the career night of Embiid's backup, Paul Reed, but that doesn't diminish the frustration fans feel about getting robbed of the chance to see an Embiid-Jokic showdown.
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