Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic faced off in what was considered a battle of the two best bigs in the NBA. Both players have been playing at an elite level, and are quite close in the race to be named NBA MVP. But only one man could walk away victorious, and on the night, that man happened to be Nikola Jokic.
The Philadelphia 76ers’ social media team decided to share some thoughts on the two big men, putting out a Tweet that read ‘Simple Math: 21 > 15′, referencing the two players’ jersey numbers. 21 being better than 15 wasn’t just a mathematical fact, but also a statement from the social media team that Embiid was better than Jokic.
But in the aftermath of the result, the 76ers social media team deleted that Tweet, thinking that it wouldn’t reflect well after Embiid lost to Jokic. But the Denver Nuggets social media team wouldn’t let them live it down, as they shared a screenshot of the Tweet and joked that it was a good decision to delete it.
Yeah… probably a good call on this delete😮💨 pic.twitter.com/VAf3dBzEKk
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 15, 2022
This was the first battle between the two elite big men in 825 days, and it did not disappoint. The reigning MVP showed his elite talent, but Embiid didn’t make it easy for him at all. Both Jokic and Embiid had great performances, scoring 22 and 34 points respectively. Despite scoring less than Embiid, Jokic helped get his team the win.
NBA fans reacted to the battle between the two, with many suggesting that this performance from Jokic established his superiority over Embiid. But things in the NBA are never that simple, and one game cannot help establish superiority among players. Embiid will be hoping to get the better of Jokic by taking away his MVP title and keeping it for himself come the end of the season.