The league has officially concluded 2022 All-Star Weekend, which is also the middle of the unofficial season of the season. And this year's All-Star Weekend, Nikola Jokic was named to the All-Star Team for the fourth consecutive season, which proves that Jokic can indeed lead the Nuggets to a good enough record in the first half of the season and be recognized by fans.
But for the media and fans, the end of All-Star Weekend also marked the beginning of the regular season MVP scramble in a real sense. In the next period, the competition for the regular season MVP will also largely come down to competition between the two top center players in the active duty.
In ESPN's latest survey of regular-season MVPs, Joel Embiid led the league with a total of 789 points, including 45 first-choice votes, and Nikola Jokic, who played for the Nuggets, also received 754 points and 43 first-choice votes.
So will the league's regular season MVP competition in the second half of the season really revolve around Jokic and Embiid, two interior players? Or will players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Demar DeRozan also have the possibility of counterattacking? If Jokic and Embiid are the two players with the best chance of winning the regular season MVP, who of the two will have a better chance of winning the regular season MVP trophy for now? The first is a comparison of the data:
So far this season, Nikola Jokic has played in 52 games for the Nuggets, averaging 26 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 5.6 free throw shots per game, while playing 116.8 offensive efficiency, 106.7 defensive efficiency and +7.1 plus-minus data performance at 30.5% usage. It also helped the Nuggets to record 33 wins and 25 losses and rank 6th in the West.
As for Joel Embiid,000 points, he's averaged 29.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 11.3 free-throw shots in 46 games so far this season, while playing 114.1 offensive efficiency, 107.1 defensive efficiency and +4.7 plus-minus at 37.7 percent usage, which also helped the 76ers to play 35-23 and rank third in the East.
In the above data, Jokic seems to be the player who will win the regular season MVP, not to mention that Jokic has improved compared to his 2020 regular season MVP season, and in the case of playing a real dominant performance.
Like Jokic, Joel Embiid has always been the absolute core of the team, and he can even have a higher usage rate than Jokic, and his dominance on the offensive end has allowed Embiid to play a leading league scoring performance. While Embiid and Jokic are scorers of completely different paths, Embiid's performance on the offensive end is undoubtedly the key to propelling the 76ers forward.
Embiid's dominance as a scorer has drawn optimism from the media and fans throughout the season that he will eventually become the regular season MVP. In contrast, Jokic's contribution to multiple aspects of the Nuggets' offensive end does improve the level of play for his teammates. Not to mention, Jokic's dominance on the offensive end is not as compelling as Embiid's, but from my point of view, Jokic's contribution to the overall success of the team far exceeds Embiid's.
Who has more helpers between Jokic and Embiid?
The Nets are undoubtedly a team sport, and even if Jokic and Embiid do dominate on the offensive end, being around teammates is key to helping the team perform well enough. So who among Jokic and Embiid's players so far this season can get more help from their teammates?
Statistically, the Nuggets' lineup so far this season, with Monte Morris, Will Barton, Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green and Nikola Jokic, is the Nuggets' most commonly used starting lineup, playing 460 minutes in 26 games.
As for the 76ers, their core starting lineup includes Teres Maxi, Seth Curry, Maddace Sable and Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid, a lineup that has 256 minutes in 21 games.
Judging from the paper lineup, the Nuggets and the 76ers are equal in strength. For the Nuggets, Monte Morris and Aaron Gordon are the two best players on the team besides Jokic, and Barton is slightly less powerful than the two. As for Jeff Green, who has always been a consistent player in the team, he knows how to play around Jokic, but Jeff Green sometimes gets into trouble on the court, after all, he is a 35-year-old veteran player.
The 76ers also have young players of Teres Maxi's caliber, and his performance so far this season is enough to show that he has the role of a scorer and offensive facilitator in the future. Sebel is still a player with excellent outside defense, but his performance on the offensive end is not stable, and Seth Curry was sent to the Nets in the trades involving James Harden and Ben Simmons before the trade deadline, but he is definitely the player who has a consistent performance outside the three-point line during his time with the 76ers.
In fact, both teams are facing the dilemma of the absence of two or even three bosses. Because for the Nuggets, if Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. can stay healthy, this Nuggets can immediately become the best competitive team in the Western Conference. As for the 76ers, the farce of Ben Simmons was over before the trade deadline, and until then, Ben Simmons had not been able to play for the 76ers.
Judging from the above lineup, Embiid definitely has more help around him, and Jokic can better use his influence on the court and let the Nuggets play well enough. So even though Embiid has always been the top scorer in the 76ers, I think Jokic is the player who has a better influence on the game and the team's record.
Jokic has played 15 triple-doubles (leading the league) so far this season, four more than the second-highest-ranked player. Especially in the game against the Clippers earlier this season, Jokic's large triple-double at 49-14-10 was arguably one of the best games of the season.
The 76ers were still able to win four of the 12 games Joel Embiid missed, while the Nuggets only won one of Jokic's six absent games. Although neither team has a good enough record in the absence of the team's superstar, the Nuggets' performance without Jokic is significantly more embarrassing, which means that the Nuggets rely more on Jokic's talent this season.
Who is better qualified to be elected regular season MVP?
Even if jokic and Embiid can play top-notch and lead the team to victory even when the role players are not so good, who is better enough to win the regular season MVP trophy?
Simply put, Joel Embiid's game has a more explosive performance on the offensive end, and Embiid's reason for being elected regular season MVP is simple, he can play a historic level of dominance in scoring on the offensive end, and even Embiid's dominance can be compared with Shaquille O'Neal, who won the regular season MVP trophy in 1999-00.
While Joel Embiid dominates as a scorer, Nikola Jokic can single-handedly shoulder the Nuggets. Embiid does have a higher usage rate than Jokic, but the Nuggets do rely more on Jokic on the offensive end, whether it's in terms of scoring, organization or passing. When Jokic is on the floor, the Nuggets need him to do a good job of handling the ball and attracting the attention of the opposing defense.
So Nikola Jokic's all-around performance on the court has allowed him to contribute to the team's victory far more than Joel Embiid's scoring output, but both of them are qualified enough to impact the regular season MVP trophy, and I certainly believe that Nikola Jokic should win the regular season MVP for the second consecutive year, but for now, if Joel Embiid can continue to perform in this state and let the 76ers have a good enough record, he should be the player who has a greater chance of winning the regular season MVP.
What's more, even if Nikola Jokic were more likely to lead the Nuggets to a better record after the return of Nuggets second and third scorers Jamal Murray and Michael Potter Jr., Jokic's scoring power would be better shared with these players. By contrast, the 76ers will also move from playoff powerhouses to Eastern Conference champions after James Harden's return, after all, Embiid is more likely to get easier scoring opportunities on the court with Harden's help.
So one of the tough things for the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic is that unless the 76ers can't play good enough chemistry with Joel Embiid after James Harden's appearance, jokic will have a hard time winning the regular season MVP trophy.