One of the most important regular-season days of the year for the NBA is Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, which features an unusually heavy schedule as well as several matinees. The first game up is Houston at Philadelphia in a 1 p.m. ET tipoff on NBA TV, and the 76ers are likely to have reigning league MVP Joel Embiid back in the lineup. He's set at over/under 32.5 points at DraftKings with Philly a 7.5-point favorite.
Embiid is a two-time league scoring champion and leads currently at 34.6 points per game in 34.1 minutes. He's thus on pace to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only NBA players since the 1954-55 season to finish with more points per game than minutes played. Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points in 48.5 minutes for the Philadelphia Warriors during his historic 1961-62 season. Embiid has also joined Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in league history with 15 consecutive games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds -- a streak Embiid has a chance to extend.
There's a rule nowadays that the NBA put in place in cooperation with the NBA Players' Association which says a player must play in at least 65 of the 82 regular-season games to be eligible for individual awards like MVP. Embiid has missed 10 of the Sixers' 37 games due to injuries, illness and rest – including the past three due to a swollen left knee. Embiid thus can only miss seven more, which is why he's expected to play Monday despite his questionable tag, rather than waiting until Tuesday for a bit more rest ahead of a matchup with the Denver Nuggets and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, the second game of a back-to-back. Jokic is currently the +170 favorite at DraftKings for MVP and Embiid is fourth at +700.
If he plays, Embiid would have a compelling individual matchup Monday opposite rising Rockets star center Alperen Sengun. The 21-year-old is averaging 21.7 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 54.1% from the floor. Entering this season, only eight players in history averaged at least 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a season while shooting at least 54% from the field: Abdul-Jabbar five times, Giannis Antetokounmpo five times, Charles Barkley four times, Chamberlain four times, LeBron James and Jokic three times each, and Karl Malone and Embiid once each. Sengun's points + rebounds + assists total here is 36.5 (Embiid's is 50.5).
Philadelphia snapped a three-game skid with a 112-93 rout of Sacramento on Friday to improve to 7-3 vs. the Western Conference this season and 9-0 when holding teams under 100 points. Those nine such wins are second in the NBA. Guard De'Anthony Melton (11.8 PPG) was out on Friday and won't play Monday either. Kelly Oubre Jr. (13.4 PPG) missed Friday's game but isn't on the injury report.
Houston is 15-6 at home but 4-13 on the road – including 1-3 on this current six-game swing through the Eastern Conference. The Rockets are 19-19 overall and didn't get their 19th win until the 78th game last season. They are 15-3 when leading after three quarters and 4-16 when tied or trailing after three.
The Rockets try to avoid a second straight season sweep by the Sixers after losing 131-127 at home on Dec. 29 with Embiid sitting. Tyrese Maxey had 42 points and Tobias Harris scored 22 for Philly. Sengun had 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in a losing effort. Jabari Smith was out injured but is healthy now.
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