After five weeks in a row on top, Jokic now trails Embiid on MVP ladder
Mar 25, 2022, 3:38 PM
With just eight games left in the season, reigning MVP Nikola Jokic still has work to do.
The Denver Nuggets star held the top spot on the official NBA MVP ladder the last five weeks, but the new rankings revealed on Friday now have Joel Embiid ahead of “The Joker.”
It was a tough week for the Nuggets, going 1-3, including an embarrassing loss to the Celtics. And while Jokic didn’t play all that poorly, he did have a down game against Boston and even blamed himself for the loss afterwards.
Embiid’s 76ers currently have a 45-27 record, good for third place in the East. The Nuggets are the No. 6 seed in the West with a 43-31 mark. In their only head-to-head matchup this season, Jokic and the Nuggets beat Embiid and the 76ers, with rookie Bones Hyland helping steal the show.
Here’s part of what NBA.com’s Michael C. Wright said about Jokic this week:
Jokic continues to battle through tough times as the Nuggets have gone 1-3 since the release of our last Kia Race to the MVP Ladder. Denver dropped two in a row to Cleveland and Boston, before the reigning MVP racked up 30 points on just 15 shots with 14 rebounds, and six assists Tuesday to put the Nuggets back on the winning track against the LA Clippers. Denver ran into a buzz saw Thursday, though, in the Suns. Phoenix clinched the No. 1 seed for the playoffs with a 140-130 win in a game that saw 14 lead changes (and one in which Jokic scored 28 points).
Wright also mentions Embiid scored at least 32 points in four straight games before snapping that streak earlier this week.
The reality is both guys are worthy of the award. We can get blue in the face arguing about it, but each guy is a special talent having a phenomenal year. As Stephen A. Smith told Schelerth and Evans last week, Jokic is absolutely capable of winning the MVP and going back-to-back.
If Jokic can keep the Nuggets in the top-6 in the West and out of the play-in game, that’d go a long way towards helping his cause. But he’ll need to be special in the final eight contests, as it appears momentum has swung back toward Embiid for the coveted award.
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