Joel Embiid has done everything in his prowess to ascertain himself as the best in the league. And with two games remaining in the regular season before the Playoffs, the 29-year-old big man might be looking for some rest having gone up high in the MVP odds.
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The 7-foot-tall Cameroonian has played 69 games in the season thus far, leading the league in scoring, averaging over 33 points along with 9.9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.7 blocks per game. After his 52-point outing in the narrow victory over the Boston Celtics, the odds of the MVP race turned on its head again with him as the leader over Nikola Jokic.
The two remaining games might not give The Joker enough to get back up in the race as his worst performance of the season just came on the night of Embiid’s one-man show in Boston. That too against the bottom-dwelling Rockets team.
Will Joel be back for another game to seal the MVP deal once and for all against the Hawks tonight? Or is he assured of winning it and wants to have a breather before the post-season? Let’s find out.
Joel Embiid will not play against Trae Young and Co
According to the reports, the Cameroonian big man is going to skip the game that could have been a statement win against a team that showed him the exit door in the 2021 Playoffs.
#Sixers center Joel Embiid will not play against the Atlanta Hawks Friday night at State Farm Arena, according to sources. The MVP frontrunner isn’t even traveling with the team tonight to Atlanta.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) April 7, 2023
Him sitting out, will not just give the required boost to the Hawks to win this game and stay above the Toronto Raptors, but also to the Nets to stay above the Miami Heat in the standings.
Embiid sitting out the last two is a masterstroke by Philly
As things stand, the Brooklyn Nets have a 44-36 record currently having the #6 seed. The Heat is a win behind them at 7th and the Hawks hold the 8th seed.
Embiid sitting out the Sixers’ last two games against the Hawks and the Nets, would mean the best chances for both teams to hold on to their current seeding.
That would result in the Sixers matching up with the Nets in the first round and not the Heat or the Hawks who both have defeated the Sixers in the last two Playoffs. Truly a masterstroke.
