For the entirety of the 2022-23 season, the MVP race boiled down to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid. Thus, every matchup of theirs have become must-see television. That is, of course, when Embiid doesn't end up sitting out an all important clash against the peer closest to him in terms of quality. On Tuesday night, the 76ers star did not duck the smoke and ended up on top after taking a 126-121 victory over the Nuggets.

Embiid looked like the more dominant player on the court over Jokic; the 76ers star put up 41 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, and that's with him playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Nuggets star put up a solid performance as well, dropping 25 points, 19 rebounds, and three assists, but it evidently was not enough.

Nonetheless, Nikola Jokic, for as often as he's being pitted against Joel Embiid, knows better than to view the matchup with one-on-one tunnel vision. In fact, the Nuggets star basically said that the 76ers star has plenty of help around him, which made his life easier in their win on Tuesday night.

“He's a really good player. He's playing historic right now. That's extremely hard to do, especially every night. I’m not playing against him, I’m playing against Philadelphia. It was a good matchup, probably,” Jokic said, per Katy Winge of Altitude TV.

Indeed, Joel Embiid wasn't alone in tearing up the Nuggets' defense on Tuesday night. Tyrese Maxey pitched in with 24 points of his own, while Tobias Harris was a bit more aggressive relative to past games, scoring 25 points and taking advantage of the space the 76ers star creates due to how much attention he draws.

The 76ers are a hard team to stop when the team's secondary options behind Embiid are also on point, which they were against the Nuggets. Basketball, as much of a star-driven sport as it is, remains a team sport, and Nikola Jokic would attest to that given the way he makes his teammates better with his impeccable feel for the game.

The Nuggets will be facing the 76ers yet again on January 27, so Jokic and company will have around a week and a half to prepare for what should be a heated rematch.