There is a narrative surrounding Joel Embiid that suggests he may be avoiding certain matchups, especially against Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic on his home court.
The current MVP played against Denver in Philly on January 16 of this year.
However, he missed the game on January 27 in Denver against the Nuggets.
Adding to the speculation, Embiid was suddenly listed on the injury report just 15 minutes before the game.
In fact, Embiid has not played in Denver since November 8, 2019.
Despite this, Embiid’s trainer, Drew Hanlen, refuted the idea that he is avoiding tough matchups like Jokic.
“We just kind of laugh about it,” Hanlen told Sportskeeda. “He’s played Jokic two times in the last two years and he had 47, 18, and five, he had 41, 10 and seven,” Hanlen said.
“I don’t know why you would duck somebody that you’re averaging 45, 13 and eight against. If you look at Joel versus other big guys, he’s just dominated them. Joel loves playing the best big guys in the world. Any time he’s healthy enough to play against them, he’s going to be out there.”
If things go a certain way, there could potentially be a 76ers-Nuggets matchup in the NBA Finals.
Despite missing the last regular season game, Philly coach Nick Nurse reassured that Embiid participated fully in practice and there are no concerns about his knee post-surgery.
Nurse fully expects Embiid to play against the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
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