Saturday's edition of the NBA's rivalry week pitted arguably the two top big men in the league today when Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets took on Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers were able to score a 126-119 victory at home, and at least for this particular battle, it was clear which of the two towering centers came out on top.
It wasn't Nikola Jokic. Even the Nuggets star wouldn't argue against this notion after watching Embiid drop 47 points all over them. Before the game, Jokic expressed his belief in Embiid “probably” being the most dominant player in the league. After Saturday's showdown, it is clear that Jokic's impression of his Sixers counterpart hasn't changed one bit:
“I think the same thing today, too,” Jokic said of Embiid, via Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
I would definitely feel the same way too after being utterly dominated by Joel Embiid. Jokic didn't exactly have a bad game in this one — he finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, two blocks, and seven turnovers — but there's no denying that Embiid showed him up.
“He’s really talented,” Jokic said. “Really shifty.”
It's no surprise that Jokic opted to keep it short and sweet after the loss. After all, the Nuggets star was clearly still feeling disappointed with the defeat. However, given how humble the reigning back-to-back MVP truly is, Nikola Jokic just had to give credit where credit is due.
For his part, Embiid also had nothing but praise for Jokic after the game. There's clearly a lot of respect between these two superstars.
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