NBA Hoops

Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and why this NBA MVP race just got good

Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and why this NBA MVP race just got good

Exactly one month ago, ESPN released its second of three straw polls tracking the NBA’s Most Valuable Player race for the 2022-23 season, and it had a very clear result: Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as the heavy favorite to claim his third straight award.

Thursday saw Las Vegas tell a different tale, as Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has joined Jokic as an MVP co-favorite after finishing in second each of the last two seasons.

What happened?

Most notably, Denver has lost four straight games: home defeats to the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets and road losses to the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, whom they allowed to score 49 points in the first quarter Tuesday night.

Jokic continues to be a dominant force individually and remains on pace to become the first center in NBA history to average a triple-double (24.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 10.0 assists) for a season.

But Denver is 5-5 with the No. 24 defense since the All-Star break, which coach Michael Malone said could be attributed to coasting after all but locking up the top seed in the Western Conference.

“Right now we’re just in chill mode, and you can’t be in chill mode with 13 games to go in the season,” Malone told reporters after Tuesday’s loss in Toronto. “We’ve got to try to find a way to get our swagger back.”

While Denver is in “chill mode,” both the 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks — led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — have been anything but.

The 76ers, who are in the midst of the most difficult post-All-Star schedule in the NBA, per ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, have won seven of their past eight games since the calendar flipped to March.

Embiid, who won Eastern Conference Player of the Month in December and January, is well on his way to winning the award again. He’s averaging 36.6 points on 60% shooting, 8.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.1 blocks this month. That included a 36-point, 18-rebound performance in a victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night, after which Embiid told ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth that he’s excited about the way he and the 76ers are playing.

“I’m just trying to win,” Embiid said. “Just trying to rack up as many wins as we can. Just trying to get the group…

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