Joel Embiid’s MVP Moment Against the VORP King Squandered By His Supporting Cast

To start Monday Night at Wells Fargo Center, the vibes were strong, the crowd was energized and the mission was clear: get Joel Embiid an MVP statement win against Nikola Jokic. Early on, it seemed as if the Sixers were going to dominate en route to a win against the reigning MVP in Jokic. On the very first bucket of the game, Embiid broke down Jokic off the dribble at the top of the key and was able to blow past him to the rim.

 

This had the makings of a boatracing. Embiid smoothly drilled a step-back three in Jokic’s grill to balloon the lead to 13. Soon, the lead would increase to 19! 

 

In the words of the philosopher and poet, Taylor Swift: I think I’ve seen this film before, and I didn’t like the ending.

 

Some key takeaways from last night’s squandered MVP statement opportunity.

 

Joel Embiid vs the VORP King Had a Clear Winner:

 

Most Sixers fans including myself have absolutely zero hate in our hearts for Nikola Jokic. But, his army of advanced metrics assholes whose insistence that games are played on spreadsheets have become unbearable to deal with. Last night, Stat Muse and the rest of the VORP Virgins had to use their own eyeballs and watch while Joel Embiid dominated both ends of the floor for the Sixers.

 

What was perfect is that he dominated in more ways than just the typical free throw barrage that opposing fans have been groaning about. The Process finished with 34 points on 55% shooting including 3/3 on three point field goals when guarded by Jokic. 

Jokic does wonders to set up the Nuggets offense and they have tailor made this offense around him with wings who love to run and spread the floor. Their offense is a free flowing efficiency machine.

 

But it was pretty evident that Joel Embiid makes a greater dominating impact on BOTH ends of the floor (his block after picking up his fifth foul in the 4th quarter was his best play of the night) than Jokic can.

 

Ironically, you could make the case the loss should increase Embiid’s MVP odds considering how painfully apparent it is this roster cannot even tread water when he’s not on the floor.

 

The Sixers Bench Unit’s Glorified Cardio Session Ruins Embiid’s MVP Moment

 

If there is such a thing as an “NBA MVP moment” the way there is a “Heisman moment” that would’ve been it last night for Joel Embiid. Unfortunately, it was entirely ruined by the discrepancy in bench production between the Nuggets and Sixers.

 

The Nuggets bench scored the first 26(!!) points of the 4th quarter for the away team. They finished with 46 points total compared to the Sixers 14. The combined +/- of the Nuggets bench was an astounding +66. They outclassed the Sixers bench in every way imaginable as the Sixers group mustered up four made field goals. 

 

On a night that saw the biggest clash of titans since 50 Cent and Kanye West released their albums on the same day in 2007, this clash of Jokic vs Embiid ended up not being the biggest story. It was Jamychal Green hitting two baseline jumpers late in the 4th. It was Demarcus Cousins turning back the clock and then some, stroking two threes. And it was the Bones Hyland Game.

https://twitter.com/sergenkumas/status/1503564456256806912?s=20&t=dOHwKJ3uBX7QyEr0k5gd8g

The Sixers bench couldn’t match a fraction of it.

 

The Sixers Transition Defense and Attention to Detail

 

After the Sixers were walloped by the Nets last Wednesday, Kevin Durant remarked that they saw the Sixers as a team they can run on. It was a red flag that was evident again on Monday night. 

 

It was at its most evident at the end of the 2nd quarter. Joel Embiid went to the bench with foul trouble. And the lead evaporated in less than two minutes of gametime after the Nuggets finished the half on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to five. It was much in large part to Jokic doing his best Patrick Mahomes outlet pass show.

 

The problem for the Sixers is when they are missing shots and teams aren’t taking the ball out of the net, they are getting beat back in transition. They just aren’t communicating well when getting back on defense. On defense in general, there are too many lapses.

 

The bad news for the Sixers is that there are too many attention lapses on defense. The good news for the Sixers is that they are just attention lapses. Which could fixed by ya know, paying attention to detail.

 

A perfect example would be a set play by the Nuggets in the 2nd half. Bryn Forbes is the team’s only 40+% three pointer shooter. (Contrary to common belief after last night, Bones Hyland does not shoot 122% from 3). The Nuggets ran an off ball screen for Forbes to have him pop open on the wing. Shake Milton never saw the screen coming and immediately got lose. Forbes drilled a huge (wide open) three.

 

There are four to five instances of this every night. And it was amplified by a Nuggets team who like to push to the wings with a Center who can run their offense.

 

Final Thoughts:

 

I will never forgive Georges Niang and the rest of the bench for letting Stat Muse and the VORP Virgins off the hook. The story should have been Embiid’s dominance and instead it was about the Nuggets win.

 

The vibes have been off this past week. This team just needs to get back to playing ball. There is a lot of talent on this team but it looks like everyone not named Embiid needs a confidence boost and a reminder of that. 

 

It goes to show, if any Sixers team could fulfill our wildest wishes and survive without Joel Embiid on the floor, the sky’s the limit.

 

By Aidan Powers | March 15, 2022
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