Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, checks in at No. If we are healthy, we are able to have a chance to go out there and compete and try to get what we deserve.” Before we even get there, we’ve got to compete with health. “Hopefully, with everybody we have on this team we’re able to go out there and compete. But nothing is guaranteed in life,” Antetokounmpo said. Antetokounmpo has averaged 35.7 ppg and 10.7 rpg over that span for a Bucks squad that appears finally whole again after dealing with a slew of injuries earlier in the season. 3 on the ladder and had played in just three of Milwaukee’s last six games, producing 25 points Thursday in a 139-123 loss to the Indiana Pacers. The international bigs occupy the top positions in the latest Kia Race to the MVP Ladder, and the betting action has shifted that way, too, with the Action Network, FanDuel and DraftKings all recently making Embiid the betting favorite to win the award.īut as quickly as the action shifted Embiid’s direction, we all know this race can and likely will make another turn coming down the stretch with teams fighting for postseason positioning.

So, we’re reshuffling the top of the order to reflect Embiid’s latest tear, not to mention the recent struggles of the Denver Nuggets led by reigning back-to-back MVP winner Nikola Jokic. What’s not in dispute (from this vantage point), though, is where Embiid currently stacks up against the rest of the Kia MVP hopefuls with the Sixers prepping for a Friday matchup at Charlotte ( 7 ET, NBA League Pass). “It’s clear as day, that’s a charge,” he said. I watch basketball every day, and I was pretty confident they would call it the other way.” “Right before the hit, you could see he was already starting to flop. “I thought it was a good call,” Embiid said of Wednesday’s replay review. The matchup represented the final meeting between the Sixers and Cavaliers, which determined the tie-breaker for a pair of teams currently sitting at third and fourth in the East, respectively.įlexing two-way dominance almost nightly, Embiid is shooting 60% overall and 50% on 3-pointers during this winning streak to go with 8.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.5 blocks per game in anchoring a team that is 8-3 since the All-Star break. That reversal kept the Sixers big man on the floor to finish off a 36-point, 18-rebound masterpiece, as Philadelphia extended the NBA’s current longest winning streak to six games by defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, 118-109. Sixers coach Doc Rivers immediately signaled for a replay review. Whistled for what would have been his sixth foul with 4:12 left after bulling over Evan Mobley while draining a 19-foot jumper, Embiid pled his case to referee Derek Richardson, as the crowd of 19,432 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse erupted anticipating a disqualification. The Philly big man capped the climb controversially Wednesday, just before celebrating his 29th birthday. Push off or not, the most relevant charge we can now attach to Joel Embiid is his ascent to the top of the Kia Race to the MVP Ladder. Seven consecutive 30-point performances push Joel Embiid past Nikola Jokic for the top spot.

Joel embiid stats vs pistons