Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid continues to make strides in his game as he has continued to dominate the league. After scoring 32 points in Thursday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers, he now has 25 games with at least 30 points on the season and he’s averaging a robust 33.6 points per game.
Still, the focus in the MVP conversation has been on other players. Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum have gotten a lot of attention in the MVP conversation over Embiid.
The 2023 MVP ladder by NBA.com recently ranked the big fella third behind Tatum and Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic. Embiid jumped Doncic who came in fourth.
Their synopsis on Embiid being third:
The steady rise continues. Embiid missed three straight games from Jan. 4-8, but returned with a vengeance, averaging 34.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg and 1.8 bpg in the six games since. The Sixers have won four in a row on their current five-game West road trip and have won eight of their first 10 games in January to move into a second-place tie with the Bucks in the East.
Embiid has come up short in the previous two seasons as he finished as the runner-up to Jokic in the MVP race. Now, it appears that Jokic continues to receive more MVP love than Embiid at this point in time.
Embiid and the Sixers host Jokic and the Nuggets on Jan. 28.
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