The Philadelphia 76ers will wrap up their four-game road trip in the Mile High City on Monday when they take on the Denver Nuggets. After winning the first game of this trip, the short-handed Sixers dropped matchups with the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns.
They will need big efforts from just about everybody on Monday because Joel Embiid has been ruled out for this contest. It makes sense to do so; he has been dealing with right calf tightness. The Sixers have bigger goals in mind with the playoffs right around the corner.
Embiid’s takes away the luster of the big MVP showdown between the big fella and Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, but Philadelphia has to do what it has to do at this moment.
ESPN Reporting with @Ramonashelburne: The showdown of MVP frontrunners is off tonight: Sixers are ruling out Joel Embiid (calf) vs. Nikola Jokic and Nuggets. Embiid attempted to work out this morning, but team is taking a precautionary approach given density of recent schedule.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 27, 2023
Without Embiid, the Sixers will have to rely on others. PJ Tucker, Paul Reed and Dewayne Dedmon will likely hold down the center spot in this matchup.
As for James Harden, he participated in the shootaround on Monday, and he could return from a three-game absence.
#Sixers PG James Harden (Achilles) participated in this morning’s shootaround.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) March 27, 2023
Tipoff from Ball Arena is set for 9:30 p.m. EDT.
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