Both Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic are enjoying incredible regular seasons.
A legitimate case can be made for either one of them to be named MVP of the 2021-22 season, but who is actually leading the race right now?
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Monday night’s meeting between the Sixers and Nuggets at the Wells Fargo Center will be the second and final time these two teams match up this season unless they both reach the Finals, but it is the first time Embiid and Jokic will face each other this season. as Embiid missed Philadelphia’s win over Denver in November.
The case for Joel Embiid
Embiid has been an absolute monster this season after getting off to a slow start at the beginning of the season when he missed nine games with Covid, but he certainly has made up for it since.
Embiid is tied for the league lead in scoring with 29.7 points per game while averaging 11.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
He had 27 points and 12 rebounds against Brookly last weekn but, just as he has done all season, he was carrying the Sixers by himself in a blowout loss to the Nets.
hard to guard. pic.twitter.com/8hDBnYlqsX
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) March 11, 2022
MORE: NBA MVP race: Does Embiid, Jokic or Antetokounmpo lead?
The case for Nikola Jokic
Like Embiid, the Serb has been phenomenal this season.
Nikola Jokic last 3 games:
46 PTS | 12 REB | 11 AST | 73 FG%
32 PTS | 15 REB | 13 AST | 71 FG%
38 PTS | 18 REB | 7 AST | 63 FG% pic.twitter.com/12BGdRC1he— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 10, 2022
We could probably just leave that stat above presented without context because, well, just because. But if you need more context around Jokic’s season, how’s this: 26.0 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game?
Denver has won 10 of its last 12 games, and Jokic has recorded three triple-doubles in his last seven games, including two back-to-back.
The Nuggets are currently in the sixth seed in the West but just 1.5 games separate them from the fourth seed Jazz. With Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray both potentially returning for the playoffs, Denver could be dangerous.
In our last MVP Ladder, we had Jokic ranked No. 1 with Embiid behind him at 2. As of March 13, Embiid has the best odds to bring home the MVP trophy at the end of the season.
Odds to win 2021-22 NBA MVP
(As of March 13, 2022)
| Player | Odds |
| Joel Embiid | -130 |
| Nikola Jokic | +140 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | +700 |
| Ja Morant | +3000 |
| DeMar DeRozan | +3600 |
| Luka Doncic | +4900 |
The Sixers and head coach Doc Rivers have said they plan on resting Embiid and James Harden over the team’s remaining regular-season games, so it remains to be seen how much this affects Embiid’s chances of winning, especially with a surging Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee Bucks looking to ramp up their playoff run.
Embiid has played in 53 of the team’s 65 games thus far which is not far off from his career-high of 64 games played in the 2018-19 season. While he would probably like to chase that MVP, the bigger picture dictates that he should have some rest before the playoffs begin.