Damian Lillard Picks 76ers' Joel Embiid to Win NBA MVP over Nikola Jokić, Giannis
If Damian Lillard had an MVP vote, it would go to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid.
Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (starts at 2:40 mark), the Portland Trail Blazers guard said he would pick Embiid because he's "the most dominant player" in the NBA this season.
Lillard also explained he wouldn't give it to Nikola Jokić for a third straight year when you have a player like Embiid playing "at the same level or maybe even higher" after the voting the past two seasons went in favor of the Denver Nuggets center.
The NBA MVP race appears to be a three-man race with just over one week remaining in the regular season. Embiid, Jokić and Giannis Antetokounmpo have separated themselves from the pack.
In the latest MVP straw poll conducted by ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Embiid has the slimmest of leads over Jokić for the top spot. Jokić actually leads in first-place votes (42-40), but Embiid has six more second-place votes (45-39) to help him finish with two more points overall (790-788).
Antetokounmpo was the only other player to receive a first-place vote (18 total). He got 612 total points.
The Sixers held Embiid out of a showdown with Jokić and the Nuggets in Denver on Monday due to calf soreness and fatigue. Jokić finished with a triple-double of 25 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists in a 116-111 win.
On Jan. 28 in their only head-to-head matchup, Embiid went off for 47 points and 18 rebounds to help the 76ers erase a 15-point halftime deficit in a 126-119 victory.
The Nuggets (51-25) have a slight edge over the Sixers (50-26) in the overall standings. Jokić has played five more games than Embiid entering Friday. He's right on the edge of averaging a triple-double with 24.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game.
Embiid leads the NBA in scoring average with 33.2 points per game and has posted 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He's also generally regarded as the vastly superior defensive player, though Jokić has fared well in some advanced metrics on that end of the court.
However the MVP voting plays out, it is shaping up to be the closest race since at least 2004-05 when Steve Nash beat Shaquille O'Neal by 34 voting points.
