76ers' Joel Embiid Told Nuggets Nikola Jokic 'He's the Best Player' in NBA After Win

Joel Embiid may have outdueled Nikola Jokić on Tuesday, but the Philadelphia 76ers star still believes the Denver Nuggets big man is the best player in the NBA.

"I just told him he's the best player in the league," Embiid said of his postgame interaction with Jokić on the TNT broadcast following Philadelphia's 126-121 win over Denver on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Jokić has won two MVP awards compared to Embiid's one, but the latter only continued to separate himself in the 2023-24 MVP race on Tuesday.

Embiid finished the win with 41 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and one block. It marked his second straight 41-point performance and his 18th consecutive game with at least 30 points.

On the opposite end, Jokić notched 25 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. It was his third straight game with 25-plus points and his first 20-rebound game since he had 21 boards in a Nov. 12 loss to the Houston Rockets.

While Embiid may be the current MVP front-runner, he needs to play at least 65 games to qualify for the award. He has missed 10 games this season and can only miss eight more games before he is no longer eligible for the honor.

The 2022-23 MVP award winner told reporters Monday that he wasn't going to push himself to play just to meet the 65-game threshold if he's not fully healthy.

"I've already done it," he said. "If I have a chance to get a second one, I'll do it. I'm not going to force myself or push for it. My game is always going to speak for itself. We're winning. That's the main thing. We've got to keep winning and you put in the stats to be in the [MVP] conversation that's great, too. But at the end of the day, if there's something going on, and I can't meet the requirement for the amount of games played to qualify for that, then so be it."

With Tuesday's win the 76ers improved to 26-13 on the season. They sit third in the Eastern Conference, just 4.5 games back of the first-place Boston Celtics.

The Sixers need Embiid healthy if they're going to make a deep playoff run. Now that Embiid has his MVP award, he's aiming to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.