Grizzlies vs. 76ers Monday NBA injury report, spread, odds: MVP favorite Joel Embiid to miss marquee matchup vs. Ja Morant

The marquee matchup around the NBA on Monday was clearly going to be Memphis at Philadelphia as MVP candidates Ja Morant and Joel Embiid were going to face off for the first time this season – Embiid is now the +240 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook and Morant is +1300 – but Embiid will sit out for rest. Philadelphia was as high as a 3.5-point favorite but that number has flipped to where Memphis is -3.5. 

Embiid has been playing out of his mind and absolutely will be named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for January. In 14 games in the month, he leads the NBA with eight of at least 30 points and 10 rebounds. Those are the second-most such performances in the month in franchise history. Embiid has 17 straight games scoring at least 25 points, and in Saturday's 103-101 win over Sacramento had 36 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. It marked his fifth 35-15-5 game of the season.

Over the past 20 games, Embiid is averaging 33.9 points and 10.6 rebounds while shooting 54.2 percent from the floor. The Sixers are 15-5 in those 20. Philadelphia is 3-8 without him this season. Philly also is listing Furkan Korkmaz (9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg) as questionable tonight.

Morant should be named Western Conference Player of the Month as he has been equally dominant. Morant is averaging 28.6 points, 7.2 assists and 6.5 rebounds in January and the Grizzlies are 12-3. Over his past six games, Morant is averaging 35.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists and has scored at least points in every contest. No other player in team history has scored at least 30 points in four straight games.

Both Embiid and Morant were named All-Star Game starters.

Memphis is listing backup point guard Tyus Jones as questionable. He's out of protocols but may not be in game shape yet. Jones is on pace to lead the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio for what would be an NBA-record fourth consecutive season.

The Grizzlies destroyed the 76ers 126-91 on Dec. 13 but throw that out because Morant, Embiid and Seth Curry were all out. This writer is backing Memphis but got it when the Grizz were +2.

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