Nikola Jokic Pays Respect to Joel Embiid and 76ers Supporting Cast

On Saturday evening, the Philadelphia 76ers found themselves heavily shorthanded in their matchup against the defending champions. Despite being without four starters, they still managed to make things interesting until the very end. Following this valiant effort, the supporting cast received high praise from one of the NBA's top stars.

After leading the Denver Nuggets to a 111-105 win, Nikola Jokic fielded a handful of questions postgame. The first thing that was brought up was Joel Embiid, who he was seen chatting with as the final buzzer sounded. Embiid was originally supposed to suit up Saturday but was a late scratch after going through warm-ups. Jokic had nothing but good things to say about Embiid and touched on the historic season he is having.

"If you're a basketball fan, the things that he is doing right now is historic and you need to appreciate it whether you like it," Jokic said. "I think you need to appreciate what he's doing, who he is putting in history right now."

Jokic also tipped his cap to the shorthanded squad for not rolling over in this matchup. He cited the multiple veterans on the roster, along with younger players who made the most of this opportunity to get extended minutes.

"They have a really professional bench, professional players that play in the league for such a long time and they have a couple of players who don't play that much," Jokic continued. "They just wanted to show they can play. They fight."

With Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Tobias Harris all out, the Sixers need the whole group to step up and fill the void. The biggest standout in this game ended up being Paul Reed, who got the start at center. He finished the game with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and two steals on 66.7% shooting from the field. Other players who came up big for the Sixers were Kelly Oubre (25 points), Patrick Beverley (17 points, 11 assists), and Marcus Morris (17 points, four rebounds).