The battle between the Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets did not disappoint. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid were going at each other for the whole four quarters. Neither of the superstars was willing to give up another loss in their record. But, it was noticeable that the Serbian MVP was not as aggressive in getting to the rim as the Sixers' big man. It may have been due to Michael Malone's schemes or other factors. Now, he outlined the reasoning for it in his latest statement, via Katy Winge of Altitude TV.

“I’m never forcing stuff, so, that’s just my style of play, I think I don’t know how to force it and I’m never gonna force it,” Nikola Jokic said.

The Nuggets big man was willing to let his other teammates thrive whenever the 76ers were focused on clamping him up. This allowed fans to notice his lack of aggressiveness in the clutch. No one else was able to hit clutch shots to get them into striking distance in this battle. This led to a narrow five-point loss to Joel Embiid's squad.

Nuggets and 76ers' big-man battle

Nuggets' Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic and 76ers' Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey

Jokic was still the biggest contributor in Michael Malone's Nuggets system despite this loss. He put up 25 points by knocking down 11 out of his 20 attempts for the game. Nineteen boards were also ripped straight out of the air by him to give them a chance at winning the rebounding battle. Other members of the Nuggets were able to step up as well. Jamal Murray had 17 points and found the open man 10 times for easy assists.  In total, seven members of the Nuggets were able to rack up double-digit scoring numbers.

It was a good display of team chemistry in the Nuggets squad but it was no match for Embiid. The 76ers legend had 41 big points while seeing 39 minutes of playing time. Whenever he would get doubled, Embiid would thread the needle to drop an assist. This helped him notch 10 assists for the game while also grabbing seven rebounds.

This battle of the behemoths will only get better as time passes by in both of their primes. Will the Nuggets get the next game after this loss?