It will be in Denver, in the Rockies, at 3:30 tonight on our side of the Atlantic.
In the right corner, Nikola Jokica beautiful baby native of Serbia, double MVP in title, the local darling who runs at 24.9 points at an astounding 63% of shooting success (career best), plus 11.8 rebounds (2nd in the League) and 9.9 assists (4th de la Ligue) for the best collective record in the Western Conference at 50 wins for 24 losses.
In the other corner, his challenger, Joel Embiid. A mountain from Cameroon, an unstoppable offensive monster, the best scorer in the League with more than 33 points on average at an astonishing 54% shooting success (career record), plus 10.2 rebounds (7th in the League) and almost 2 blocks per game (6th in the League).
“I think I’m the best. But I also believe that I still have a long way to go even if I already think I am very high”analyzes Joel Embiid in the Philly Inquirer. “It’s really more of a fight with myself because I want to improve so much every day. I’m always more focused on my game.”
Not focusing on the MVP trophy
Joel Embiid even passed that mentality on to a direct competitor, Jayson Tatum.
“The last two years, I felt like I wasn’t aiming for the MVP… but my head was only thinking about that” admits Joel Embiid at The Athletic. “That’s why, even at the start of the season, when JT was in great shape and Boston was on the right track, I said to JT, ‘If I have any advice for you, don’t focus. on the MVP. Focus on the good stuff, which is winning matches and dominating. Whatever can help your team win is what you have to do, and then everything will happen naturally. »
A piece of advice that he therefore imposed on himself, since Joel Embiid understood that only victories would allow him to have the ultimate individual recognition.
“For me, I also took that approach thinking that in the last few years I could have had an MVP or something, but that didn’t happen. I told myself that I was not going to focus on that. I got to a point where people are used to what I do and they expect a lot from me. The only way to earn that respect is to earn a title. Anything that will get me to the playoffs healthy is what I have to do. I didn’t start the season slowly, but one step at a time I progressed to the point where I’m playing and dominating offensively and defensively, and it’s working out well for me. When you care about the right things, which is winning and doing whatever it takes, the rest happens. »
On the Nikola Jokic side, this MVP race has become more painful than anything else: “I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s from the past “. Same speech with his coach, very annoyed by the criticisms leveled against his pivot.
“I find that this year the MVP debate has taken a very ugly and very bad turn, and I think that disgusts a lot of people, including Jokic. (…) Whoever wanted to put in this debate, they all deserve it. But what’s happening in today’s society is that everyone – and this reminds me of when I was a coach in college – is in a bad mood. It’s not about promoting your player. It’s about bashing everyone else, and it’s just ridiculous. »
Joel Embiid (calf) preserved?
In the first leg, which therefore took place in Philadelphia, the Sixers won (126-119) with a daunting performance from their pivot who finished at 47 points, 18 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks, and had clearly dominated. his vis-à-vis double MVP (24 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds all the same).
“These types of duels, whether against Giannis, or [Jokic]it’s nice and all that » acknowledges Joel Embiid. “But at the end of the day, it’s more about Milwaukee or Denver. Post duels are not what we focus on. We mainly think about making everything work at full speed later [en playoffs]. »
With that in mind, with a sore right calf, JOel Embiid is listed as ‘uncertain’ and could miss the rematch against Nikola Jokic.
At the same time, with three defeats in its last four outings and a James Harden on its side hampered by foot pain, Philadelphia does not want to fall back into its ways and weigh down a rather positive dynamic lately (with a series of eight rank victories)…
| Joel Embiid | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | PHL | 31 | 25 | 46.6 | 36.7 | 78.3 | 2.0 | 5.9 | 7.8 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 20.2 |
| 2017-18 | PHL | 63 | 30 | 48.3 | 30.8 | 76.9 | 2.3 | 8.7 | 11.0 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 22.9 |
| 2018-19 | PHL | 64 | 34 | 48.4 | 30.0 | 80.4 | 2.5 | 11.1 | 13.6 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 27.5 |
| 2019-20 | PHL | 51 | 30 | 47.7 | 33.1 | 80.7 | 2.8 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 23.0 |
| 2020-21 | PHL | 51 | 31 | 51.3 | 37.7 | 85.9 | 2.2 | 8.4 | 10.6 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 28.5 |
| 2021-22 | PHL | 68 | 34 | 49.9 | 37.1 | 81.4 | 2.2 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 4.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 30.6 |
| 2022-23 | PHL | 61 | 35 | 54.5 | 34.1 | 85.6 | 1.8 | 8.4 | 10.2 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 33.3 |
| Total | 389 | 32 | 49.9 | 33.8 | 81.9 | 2.2 | 9.0 | 11.2 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 1.7 | 27.2 | |
