Well, I wasted way too much time writing about Joel Embiid taking the court against Nikola Jokic tonight in Denver. That’s no longer happening. 

After a much anticipated matchup between the two MVP front-runners, the Philadelphia 76ers have officially ruled out Joel Embiid against the Denver Nuggets tonight. 

Woj: Joel Embiid OUT tonight vs Nuggets

Queue the horrible hot takes on Twitter with media outlets and fans saying that Embiid is “ducking” Jokic.

This game was obviously circled on everyone’s calendar because Embiid and Jokic are yet again locked in a heated race to be crowned the NBA MVP. The two centers have finished first and second each of the past two seasons. 

Embiid, who has been nursing a sore right calf, participated in shoot around this morning and was ruled out shortly after, sighting “precautionary health concerns.” 

The decision to sit Embiid tonight, is certainly puzzling, even more so after he just spoke with Shams and The Athletic about how he’s currently feeling “the best he’s ever felt” heading into the playoffs. 

On top of that, Embiid just played on Friday and Saturday night against the Warriors and Suns. Embiid scored 46 points, including 13 consecutive points in the fourth quarter with nine rebounds and eight assists against the Warriors on Friday night. He then scored 28 points with 10 rebounds against Phoenix Saturday night. 

Including tonight’s game in Denver, it will be the third game in four nights for the Philadelphia 76ers. 

If there was a time to give him a night off, it would have been better used in at least one of those games, giving him the weekend off before tonight’s matchup against Jokic. 

While the move is certainly disappointing and has Sixers fans in a frenzy on social media, it’s the correct one to make. 

Literally nothing else matters from now until the NBA Playoffs on begin on April 10th and if you have been watching the Sixers over the past three seasons, you should know that already. 

Not to mention, Embiid already dominated Jokic this season, highlighted by Embiid’s 47 point, 18 rebound performance on January 28th in South Philadelphia where the Sixers stormed back from a 15-point deficit to beat him and the Nuggets. 

Embiid has averaged 40.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in two games against Nikola Jokic since the 2021-2022 season. 

So sure, it’s disappointing that we won’t get the Embiid vs Jokic matchup tonight, but again, it really doesn’t matter anyways. 

The Sixers should run bench lineups for six out of the last eight of the season. Embiid and Harden should only play against the Bucks and Celtics from here on out to ensure that they are both healthy and ready to make a deep playoff run. 

The fact that the Sixers are considering playing Harden tonight without Embiid in the lineup is also beyond stupid. Harden has missed the last three games with a sore left Achilles and while he’s still traveling with the team, bringing him back tonight without Embiid on the court seems like a completely useless move. 

Sit everyone. Who gives a shit.

The Sixers have made it this far and remain relatively healthy heading into the playoffs. There’s no need to risk that over the final eight games after what we have all witnessed and suffered through over the past few seasons in the playoffs. 

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