From George McCann to Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, to Jabbar to the "Big Four" in the 1990s, basketball was once a giant sport. The emergence of Michael Jordan broke the monopoly of the center for the NBA, and in the more than a decade after that, the traditional center gradually declined, and the faster, more flexible, and more athletic "small men" began to dominate the league.
The appearance of Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid has given people hope for a new generation of centers. Today, the two staged their first head-to-head showdown since 2019 and thus became the focus of the entire league, and the outcome of the game could directly determine where the MVP belongs this season.
MVP three-legged, Zhan Huang has long been out of play
Earlier today, ESPN warmed up the Nuggets' 76ers battle on social media, calling the game an MVP showdown and posting the bookmaker's latest MVP odds as evidence.
According to the odds, Embiid has become the number one favourite for MVP this season, and the most threatening competitor is the former MVP Jokic. Behind the two, the Bucks' alphabet brother was alone as the "Second Army", and the Embiid and Jokic in front of them, and the DeRozan and Morant behind them, all had a long distance.
This is basically the general situation of the MVP battle with four weeks left in the regular season: if there is no accident, this year's MVP is likely to be produced between Embiid and Jokic, and apart from the two of them, Alphabet Brother is the only candidate who is likely to "make a cold".
The criteria for the selection of MVPs will take into account personal data and team records. In terms of statistics, Jokic remains one of the best individuals of the season, averaging 26.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, shooting 65.4 percent from the field, and the perper efficiency of 32.5 is the highest in the league.
What's more, several high-level stats that reflect the impact of a player's game, including Victory Contribution (WS), Victory Contribution Per 48 Minutes (WS/48), Offense True Plus-Minus (OBPM), Defensive True Plus-Minus (DBPM), Combined True Plus-Minus (BPM), and Irreplaceable Value (VORP), all of which rank first in the league.
But if the team's record is combined, Jokic's advantage is no longer obvious, and with the good form of the 76ers after Harden joined, Embiid has even come behind.
Embiid has also performed well this season, averaging 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.4 blocks, a true shooting percentage of 60.8%, and the high-level statistics are not as good as Jokic, but also rank in the league's top three.
Before today's game, the 76ers are second in the East with 41 wins and 25 losses, and have a certain advantage over the Nuggets, who are sixth in the West. Coupled with the tradition of "aesthetic fatigue" in the MVP selection, the emperor was able to rank first in the MVP odds list.
In fact, if the factor of aesthetic fatigue is excluded, the alphabet brother is also fully qualified to compete with Embiid and Jokic. This season, Alphabet Brother averaged 29.7 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 1.4 blocks, a true shooting rate of 63.2%, and high-level statistics are also in the top three in the league, and the Bucks' record is similar to that of the 76ers, only because he has won two MVPs, the odds are so much behind Embiid.
To put it simply, this season's MVP competition for the three-legged is already a big trend, and others can only accompany the run. DeRozan's big heart performance in key moments is impressive, but there is no advantage in stats and records; Morant has a slight advantage in record, but the actual game impact is not as good as the basic data, and the Grizzlies even perform better when they lack him; as for the Suns backcourt double, although the record is impressive, but they share votes with each other, they have never been a popular candidate for MVP.
It is worth mentioning the 37-year-old LeBron James, who has performed extremely well this season, scoring 50+ twice in a week and once rising to the top of the scoring list, but because the Lakers' record is too crotch-pulling, he has actually withdrawn from the MVP competition.
Since the 1975–76 season, only two players have been elected MVP with fewer than 50 wins, one moses Malone (twice, 1978–79 and 1981–82) and the other Russell Westbrook (2016–17). And the Lakers, even if they win all the remaining games, can only win 44.
Embiid is like fire, Jokic is like ice
In this context, Embiid and Jokic ushered in this head-on duel, and the performance of the two men on the field basically reflected their different mentalities.
In fact, Jokic and Embiid performed well today, although due to the different rotation rhythms of the two coaches and the impact of foul problems, they did not have many opportunities to directly match in the first half, but in the second half, the two still had a lot of tit-for-tat performances, meeting the expectations of fans before the game.
Compared to Jokic, who has already won the MVP once, Embiid's desire for this award is obviously much stronger, so today he took the lead from the beginning, scoring 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the first quarter. Jokic scored just six points in the first quarter and made three turnovers. The contrasting performance of the core players is also directly reflected in the score, the 76ers led 15 points 37-22 in the first quarter, and the second quarter once expanded the point difference to 19 points!
But Jokic quickly got back on the field, blew a counter-offensive horn with a three-pointer, and then faced Embiid's defense to a 2+1, and let the opponent have to go off early for 3 fouls. In the end, the Nuggets ended the first half with an 18-9 offensive round, chasing the score to 53-58, of which 14 points were directly related to Jokic (points or assists).
After the start of the second half, Embiid missed consecutive shots, and Jokic, as usual, did what he had to do, defending, grabbing rebounds, strategizing, and missing no time in scoring. In the third quarter, at 9 minutes and 07 seconds, he grabbed the rebound and immediately launched a counterattack, assisting Jeff Green's dunk to help the Nuggets complete the rebound 63-61.
After the timeout, Embiid regained his touch and began to hit consecutive shots, and at 6 minutes and 35 seconds, he received Harden's blocking pass and tried to intercept Jokic, but was committed by the other side. Embiid, who walked to the free throw line, was cheered by the MVP of the audience.
The ball helped Embiid regain his confidence, and the next leg he singled Jokic head-on, easily hitting two points to regain a six-point lead for the 76ers and forcing his opponents to call a timeout. The 76ers were also overjoyed, posting a goal replay and captioning: "Simple math problem: 21 > 15."
But the 76ers weren't happy for long, and although Harden's consecutive breakthroughs at the end of the third quarter gave them an 88-81 seven-point lead into the final quarter of the scramble, the fourth quarter rested in Jokic and Embiid single-handedly led the time, and the Nuggets bench bandits launched a tidal counterattack, bringing the two sides back to the same running line.
The 76ers entered the final game with a trail of 108-110. 1 minute and 38 seconds before the final, Embiid received the ball under the basket, and two points scored to equalize the score, but in the face of Jokic's close defense, he got up to the basket but failed to hit. Turning back, Jokic held Embiid against him, and after the confrontation, he leaned over and then threw it, and the ball hit the board.
This time, it became the winner and loser of the game, holding a four-point lead into the final minute of the Nuggets, firmly grasping the initiative in their own hands.
But the 76ers weren't without a chance, and after Maxi's final 17.8-second layup narrowed the gap to two points, the 76ers played foul tactics, Barton made two free throws, and the 76ers could still drag the game into overtime with a three-pointer.
However, in the decisive moment, Embiid's shooting confidence seemed to waver, and he chose to pass the ball to Niang in the bottom corner with a chance to shoot at the top of the three-point arc, who missed far away, and Joki collected the rebound to seal the victory.
In the game, Embiid shot 11 of 20, including 3 from outside the three-point line, 9 of 10 from the free throw line, and scored a game-high 34 points, as well as 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. He played aggressively and passionately, and although he was fouled once and smashed out of the basket once, he still watched the audience exclaim, and 2 seconds before the finale, he also completed a wonderful nail board hat. Unfortunately, all of this has not been exchanged for a victory.
Jokic, by contrast, was more calm and restrained, with 22 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks, just like any other normal night. At the most critical moment of the game, he had the upper hand in the confrontation with Embiid, which made up the final decision for the game and also won a very important chip in the MVP competition.
Today's Emperor Jokic, yesterday's Harden alphabet brother?
The media promoted the game as an MVP battle, of course, there was a certain element of hype, but near the end of the season, the head-to-head showdown between the two main MVP contenders may indeed affect the final ownership of the award.
MVP judging is based on the overall performance of a player throughout the season, not whether one or two games are good or bad. However, after all, this award is voted by the judges one vote at a time, which will inevitably be mixed with emotional factors and there will be "impression points". In the case of a small gap between competitors, this little bit of left-right swing will affect the final result.
The most recent example is the 2018-19 season. At that time, James Harden was the defending MVP, and the alphabet brother led the Bucks to a strong performance, and before the Bucks' home game against the Rockets began on March 27, 2019, the two were unanimously considered to be the two main competitors of the MVP that season.
Harden that year and Jokic this season are actually a bit alike, the same defending MVP, also because the injuries of teammates (Paul and Capela) affected the performance of the record (at the beginning of the season, once ranked second to last in the West), in a difficult situation, almost single-handedly led the team back to the top of the West.
Before the battle against the Bucks, Ha debuted at the top of the league with 36.4 points, 32 consecutive 30+, 37 single season 40+, 8 single season 50+, and two single season 60+, a series of data dazzling. In addition, he can also assist his teammates to score 18.4 points per game, such an amazing offensive influence, which is rare in history.
But the alphabet brother's performance is also outstanding, before the Rockets, the alphabet brother personally averaged 27.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.5 blocks, PER efficiency and victory contribution value are the first in the league. What's more, the Bucks had already made 55 wins and 19 losses at that time, the first in the league, which was his biggest advantage in the competition with Harden.
In that face-to-face head-on conversation, neither of them had too hot performances, Harden had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists on 9-of-26 shooting, and Alphabet Brother contributed 19 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists on 7-of-15 shooting, and the result of the game ended with the Bucks winning 108-94.
In the final MVP selection, Alphabet Brother and Harden won all the first and second votes, and Alphabet Brother defeated Harden with 776 points with a total of 941 points to win his first MVP trophy.
Today's Embiid, like the alphabet brother three years ago, had the opportunity to remove the former MVP from the throne and replace himself with a head-on victory. Sadly, he missed out on his best opportunity. After this game, the 76ers not only temporarily ceded the second place in the East to the Bucks, but also had only one win advantage compared to the Nuggets.
If Embiid is ultimately not elected MVP as desired, then today's battle will certainly be an important reason.