By Miguel Rapetti
Dec 24, 2023, 9:43 PM EST
The favorite to win the Most Valuable Player award of the regular season, Joel Embiid, will miss his Philadelphia 76ers’ visit to the Miami Heat on the NBA’s special day for Christmas Day due to a sprained right ankle , his franchise reported this Sunday.
Embiid hurt that ankle on Friday in the Sixers’ victory against the Toronto Raptors (121-111) and that physical problem will keep him out of the game in Miami this Monday.
Last season’s MVP, the center is also among the most outstanding players so far this season with averages of 35 points, 11.7 rebounds and 6 assists per game.
Additionally, Embiid has 13 consecutive games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds.
The record for a streak with that statistic is held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 16 games.
The Sixers have eight wins in their last ten games and are third in the East with a record of 20-8.
For their part, Jimmy Butler’s Heat are fifth in the same conference with a record of 17-12.
Every year the NBA prepares a special day for Christmas Day with some of the most anticipated duels in the league.
On this occasion, in addition to the Heat-Sixers, four more games will be played this Monday: New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets-Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns-Dallas Mavericks.