Ahead of a much-anticipated meeting of two MVP front-runners, the Philadelphia 76ers ruled out center Joel Embiid against the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic on Monday night.
Embiid has been laboring with a sore right calf, and the Sixers decided to take a precautionary approach given the density of the team's recent schedule.
Embiid did try to give it a go at the shootaround Monday morning, but the Sixers decided to give him some rest. Monday's game in Denver, a 116-111 Philadelphia loss, was the Sixers' third in four nights.