Nikola Jokic Sends Praise Joel Embiid's Way Ahead of Battle vs. Sixers

After a brief stop in Orlando, the Philadelphia 76ers hopped on a flight back home late on Sunday night. A little over 24 hours after tipping off against the Orlando Magic, the Sixers will participate in the second matchup of a back to back with a game against the Denver Nuggets.

Earlier this year, the Sixers paid a visit to the Nuggets without their All-Star center in the lineup. At the time, Joel Embiid was in the midst of a ten-game absence as he was in the health and safety protocol battling COVID-19.

Therefore, the two finalists for last year's MVP award didn't get an opportunity to battle it out as Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was matched up against Andre Drummond instead. The last time Embiid and Jokic battled it out against one another was in December of 2019.

On Monday, the two bigs are expected to take the court and battle it out for the fifth time in their careers.

Embiid's Praise for the Defending MVP

Last week, the Sixers started their slate of games off with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls. After Embiid had yet another impressive outing as he scored 43 points in 36 minutes in the big win over the Bulls, he was asked about the MVP race, which once again involves Jokic and himself.

Last Monday, Embiid had nothing but praise for the Nuggets' big man.

"He's an amazing player," said Embiid last week. "He's a monster. I saw what he was able to do [on Sunday]. I was watching the game. Actually, I'm always watching every game, but he's a monster. What he's able to do on the basketball floor is crazy. From big man to big man, I'm happy that when you look at who's dominating the league, and really who the best players are, you got really all big men. Whether it's Giannis, me, Jokic, KD's not a big, but he's 7-feet, and it's also foreign guys. Foreign guys have really taken over. Luka, and it's great for us."

Jokic Sends Love Back

While Embiid and Jokic are technically rivals when it comes to the battle for the MVP award, the two have mutual respect for each other as competitors. And recently, Jokic sent praise back Embiid's way just a few days after Embiid showed respect to the reigning MVP.

"He's a great player, great," Jokic said, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. "Like, for real, great, great player. He can do everything on the floor, who is controlling the game, who is in conversation for MVP, and the best player in the league. He's so dominant. He's skilled, but he's so big and strong that he uses that. He's really tough coverage for every single team in the NBA. … I like to play with the best in the league and the best in the business, but there's nothing going to be nothing special for me."

There was speculation that Embiid could miss Monday's game as it's the second night of a back-to-back with the playoffs just a month away. However, the Sixers have shown no signs of sitting the big man just yet. Therefore, Jokic versus Embiid is set to go down for the sixth time as of now.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.