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PHILADELPHIA — The final month of the NBA season is also a final gauntlet for the Chicago Bulls against the front-runners for Most Valuable Player.
After surprising Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets with a 21-point rout March 8 in Denver, the Bulls on Monday began a home-and-away series against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, who come to the United Center on Wednesday. They visit Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks on April 5 in Milwaukee in their third-to-last game.
This year’s MVP debate has dominated conversation throughout the league: Has Jokić won too many times? Has Embiid done enough to edge out Antetokounmpo?
But Bulls star DeMar DeRozan said most players tune out the noise when it comes to end-of-season accolades.
“You play your game to the best of your ability and let the chips fall,” DeRozan said. “I doubt there’s any guys out there chasing, trying to get the MVP, feeling like they got to do this, that and the third. Everybody else gets caught up in the whole MVP race thing. Guys just go out there and hoop.”
The Bulls have had mixed results this season against the MVP front-runners. They contained Jokić to 18 points in their March win, but the reigning two-time MVP needed only eight points to facilitate a 126-103 drubbing of the Bulls in November at the United Center.
The Bulls are 2-1 against the Bucks, although Antetokounmpo averaged 40.5 points in the Milwaukee losses and played only nine minutes of the lone win because of a sprained wrist.
But Embiid has been the ultimate nemesis for the Bulls, carrying a 12-0 career record against them into Tuesday’s game before the Bulls pulled off a 109-105 double-overtime victory. He finished with 37 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks before fouling out with 3:54 left in the second overtime.
After Embiid racked up his second straight Eastern Conference Player of the Week accolade, Bulls coach Billy Donovan pointed to the 76ers center’s growth as a defender and passer as the core of his recent dominance.
“His offensive numbers this month had been absolutely off the charts, but I also think that he probably doesn’t get enough credit in terms of his defense,” Donovan said. “He really can protect the rim, he can move his feet in pick-and-roll and keep people in front. He’s a hard guy to finish over.
“He’s played really, really well this year and he certainly this month has played outstanding.”
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Players take different approaches to the MVP debate. DeRozan typically stays out of the conversation, although he pitched a potential minimum-games restriction during NBA All-Star Weekend.
Meanwhile, Bulls center Nikola Vučević previously threw in his vote for fellow European and longtime friend Jokić.
“All the arguments are there for him,” Vučević said before the Bulls faced the Nuggets in Denver. “Obviously the media have to say something, to create something. It is what it is. He’s done his part. I think he deserves to get another one. The way he’s playing, it’s not even a question.”
Before Tuesday’s game, 76ers coach and Chicago native Doc Rivers stood strong in his opinion: “Joel is the MVP.”
But he also urged a more nuanced conversation around the award, which has been dominated in recent weeks by questions ranging from load management to racial bias.
“I think we should be celebrating our guys in the league,” Rivers said. “Giannis, Jayson Tatum, Joker (Jokić) are all great. We don’t need to push one down to elevate the other guy. They all are completely different players.
“Joel in my opinion is the best of that. I don’t think anyone needs me to campaign for him. I think the proof is in the pudding. I don’t know what’s going on lately. It seems like every time you validate one, you have to push down the other. No, you don’t. They’re all great. There’s nothing wrong with saying that.”
