Denver Nuggets: Can Nikola Jokic beat out Joel Embiid for MVP?

Denver Nuggets: Which MVP candidate has had more help?

While basketball is most certainly a team sport, both big men in the MVP race have helped carry their teams to their respective positions. But which player has had more help this season?

With 25 games played and 460 minutes this season, the lineup consisting of Monte Morris, Will Barton, Aaron Gordon, and Jeff Green along with Jokic is the most consistent starting lineup for the Denver Nuggets this season.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, their starting lineup consisted of Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry, Matisse Thybulle, and Tobias Harris along with Embiid. This unit has played 21 games together, and 256 minutes total.

On the surface, the two groups look comparable in their collection of talent. For Denver, Monte Morris and Aaron Gordon have been their two best players outside of Jokic, with Barton falling slightly behind the two. Jeff Green has been a solid player who knows how to play alongside Jokic, but often looks his age on the court at 35 years old.

For the Sixers, Tyrese Maxey has been an excellent surprise, showing that he can be a long-term piece as a scorer and facilitator. Thybulle continues to be a shut-down perimeter defender while providing mixed results on the offensive end of the floor, and Seth Curry was finding his rhythm from beyond the arc before being traded in a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline.

However, both teams have been sorely missing their secondary stars. A healthy Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. would instantly vault the Nuggets into contention for the Western Conference. For the Sixers, the Ben Simmons saga came to end at this year’s trade deadline, and ultimately hampered the team for the first part of the season.

We can assume that both Jokic and Embiid will be getting their running mates back sometime this season, but who has had to carry the load more for the first part of the year?

While Embiid has been a one-man show as a scorer for the Sixers, I would argue that Nikola Jokic has carried his team more than Embiid. Jokic leads the NBA in triple-doubles this season with 15, four more than the next highest rank.

Included in his impressive resume of games this season is a monster 49-14-10 game earlier this season against the Los Angeles Clippers, arguably one of the best games of the season.

Additionally, the 76ers have managed to win four of twelve games without Joel Embiid in the lineup, as opposed to Denver’s one of six games without Jokic. Both teams have struggled mightily without their MVP candidates, but the Nuggets have simply looked hapless without the help of Jokic.

The argument could be made for the Sixers having the lesser supporting cast, but along with the eye test, the numbers show that the Nuggets have relied on Jokic’s talents more this season.