Nuggets troll Embiid and the 76ers, list starting five on injury report

The good people of Colorado are used to the Philly Special—a dodge of Denver from Joel Embiid and crew. Come Tuesday, those in Pennsylvania might get the same treatment—or at the very least, they’re getting trolled.

The Denver Nuggets listed their entire starting five on the injury report prior to the national TV contest. All five are questionable to play, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with a right cervicothoracic strain, Aaron Gordon with a right heel strain, Jamal Murray with bilateral tibia inflammation, Michael Porter Jr. with left knee inflammation and reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic with a left hip strain. None of the five have missed a game yet in 2024, and Denver should have plenty of rest on both sides of this game—coming off a long home stretch and not playing again until Friday night in Boston.

Injury Report heading into tomorrow's matchup against the 76ers.

Questionable:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Right Cervicothoracic Strain
Aaron Gordon – Right Heel Strain
Nikola Jokić – Left Hip Strain
Jamal Murray – Bilateral Tibia Inflammation
Michael Porter Jr. – Left Knee… pic.twitter.com/JEbdkL6V1T

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 16, 2024

Obviously, everyone in the NBA is pretty banged up at the midway juncture in the season but it’s pretty evident this a point being made by the Nuggets. Ball Arena hasn’t seen reigning NBA MVP Embiid play since 2019, a 21-point fourth-quarter comeback by the Nuggets that saw Jokic hit a game-winner over Embiid. The Philly big man has dodged Nikola Jokic or found a way around the annual contest in Denver all but two times since being drafted in 2014. It might be time for the Nuggets and Jokic to stoke those flames back or at least get a laugh at the idea that it’s possible. If Denver did sit all these players, they could face a $100,000 fine similar to the Nets a few weeks ago.

Embiid has remained one of the top players in the game and this year the 76ers appeared to get serious, holding training camp in Colorado and hiring a new coach. But the big man has only played three times in 2024 and in 27 of the 76ers’ 37 games to this point. Recently he’s been in a stretch of only playing home games and bad teams on the road. He did play Monday afternoon, putting up 41 and 10 in a nine-point Philly home win against the Rockets.

Embiid talked after that game about his reputation.

“I can’t control if I get sick, if I get the flu or whatever. Can’t control that. Can’t control if my knee is gonna swell up. It just happened. It was against New Orleans and Boston. I got the flu, obviously you can’t go. A lot of guys on the team had it. Like I said, the goal is to be ready for the playoffs. If I cant meet the criteria of 65 games, and if I can’t play against some of the best teams in the league then… As long as I’m ready to be dominant when it gets to that time in April, that’s all I care about. Every single team that I play against, I dominate. We win and I put up numbers necessary to win. You can’t read too much into it because one of the main things that I see is that as soon as you use the name Joel Embiid, that’s gonna get you a lot of likes and that’s gonna get you a lot of money. As long as my name has a chance to help somebody make money, I’m all for it. Keep trolling. I like it, I love it.”

Tuesday’s game is slated to be best on best, the “best player in the world” against the best team. Of course, almost anyone outside of the northeastern seaboard would dispute last year’s top center claim. Jokic is a heavy favorite to capture a third MVP this season and many voters have admitted they regret what they selected last year. Meanwhile, Nuggets coach Michael Malone has spoken publically about the toxic conversation around last year’s award that impacted both Jokic and how the Nuggets deployed him in the season’s dying days.