The Warriors edged the 76ers 120–112 on Friday night in a matchup tilting one of the most dangerous teams in West against one of the best teams in the East.
In a losing effort, 76ers star Joel Embiid put together another MVP-level performance. He finished with 46 points, nine rebounds and eight assists on 13-of-23 shooting from the floor.
The best players in the league often look for pieces of motivation to continue driving their game forward and Embiid is no different. After the game, he told Warriors star Draymond Green what motivated him for his latest impressive effort.
“A guy like that, you never really want to give him a steady diet of anything because they just figure it out,” Green began when asked about Embiid. “He told me … he said ‘You know why I played like that tonight? You said Joker was the hardest person to guard in the league. I took that personal.”
“Joker” of course, is Nikola Jokić, the two-time MVP winner who is a strong candidate to win his third straight award, going head-to-head with Embiid as his biggest competition.
As the MVP race goes down to the wire, Embiid is making a strong case to win the award for the first time in his career. Win or lose, the caliber of play for the 76ers star remains, as he continues to propel his team in the East while playing the best basketball of his career.
