Joel Embiid is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player of the year this season.
At least that’s what Mikal Bridges thinks.
Discussing the difficulties of defending Embiid in Brooklyn’s upcoming first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Bridges said he believes the Sixers’ star deserves his place atop the MVP conversations.
“This year, I think he should win MVP,” Bridges said after Nets practice at the HSS Training Facility on Tuesday. “It just takes a team [to guard him], you know? I don’t think anybody can guard him one-on-one in the world. So just, team defense and you’ve got to play for each other.”
Embiid is averaging 33 points and 10 rebounds per game for the Sixers this season. In recent weeks, and as reflected in recent league-wide polls, he has jumped ahead of Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, each of whom have won two consecutive MVP awards.
The Nets already know Embiid is the caliber of player whose numbers — especially against a team like Brooklyn lacking interior size — tend to be absolute. The Nets don’t want his points, however, to come easy.
“The biggest part is making him earn baskets,” Nets’ coach Jacque Vaughn said on Tuesday. “And so, free throw attempts where no one is guarding you at the free throw line. How many times can we defend possessions without fouling will be a huge key to the series. How it is officiated — the physicality piece of it — that piece is going to be very, very interesting to the series for sure with him.”
VAUGHN READY FOR ADJUSTMENTS
Both Vaughn and Bridges suggested the Nets may mix up their defensive coverages when guarding Embiid in Saturday’s playoff opener at the Wells Fargo Center. Vaughn smiled and said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to make playoff adjustments against a championship-contending Sixers team.
“This is a great time of the year. I don’t think I’ve ever hidden the fact that I’m not afraid to try things,” Vaughn said. “That fear doesn’t exist. It just takes the belief in your players. I think we’re locked in together that we’re going to try to figure out whatever it takes to get a win.”
UNDERDOGS?
The Nets are underdogs — both in seeding and as determined by the oddsmakers in Las Vegas — but they aren’t feeding into the narrative.
As of Tuesday, the Nets are plus-295 underdogs to win Saturday’s matchup against the Sixers in Philadelphia, meaning a $100 wager will win $295 in profit, whereas it would take a $370 wager on the Sixers (minus-370) to win $100.
The Nets face more daunting odds on the entire series: The Sixers are minus-800 favorites, but a $100 bet on Brooklyn would net a $560 return.
“I don’t think we really look into it too much like that.” said Nets’ three-point leader Joe Harris. “Obviously betting odds and all, we’re probably not the favorite, but at the same time I feel like we feel like we can make it a competitive series.”
Vaughn said it’s an honor to have earned the underdog title outright. The Nets fended off several playoff hopefuls who were forced into the Play-In Tournament when Brooklyn secured the sixth seed.
“That’s the title,” Vaughn said of the underdog tag. “I think we put ourselves in a position to be the sixth seed. We earned that right to be the sixth seed, and we earn our right to line up and play on Saturday.”
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