NBA News: Tuesday, March 28th, 2023

Following the NBA Playoff races this time of year can be pretty entertaining, and there were a ton of big games on the schedule on Monday night. There weren’t a ton of big news stories that came out of those games, but that also means that there wasn’t a major injury concern. 

The action isn’t going to slow down over the next few weeks, and the NBA is going to remain in the news until the season is complete. Here is a look at three of the biggest NBA news stories from around the league on Monday night.

Jokic Praises Embiid After Nuggets Win

The Denver Nuggets hosted the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night, and this was supposed to be a battle between Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. The Sixers decided to sit Embiid due to some injury concerns, and the fans didn’t get to see a battle of the top two MVP contenders. 

Jokic did what he normally does as he recorded his 29th triple-double of the season in a big Nuggets win. Philadelphia was also playing without James Harden, and the team was no match on the road for the Nuggets. 

After the game, Jokic praised Embiid for his play this season when asked about the MVP race. Embiid is leading the NBA with a 33.3 points per game average, and he has appeared to close the gap on Jokic. Sixers head coach Doc Rivers got upset when asked about the battle as he believes that fans should just appreciate greatness. 

Jokic is looking to win his third straight NBA MVP Award, which would make him just the third player in league history to do so. 

Doncic Gets to Play Against Pacers

The Dallas Mavericks thought that they would be without superstar Luka Doncic on Monday night, but that ended up not being the case. Doncic would help the Mavericks pick up a 127-104 win in Indianapolis that was much needed for Dallas. 

The only reason that Doncic was able to suit up on Monday night was due to the fact that the NBA league office rescinded a technical foul from the weekend. NBA officials review all technical fouls and found that Doncic did not deserve his 16th technical of the year. 

Doncic still sits at 15 technical fouls on the season, and he will be facing a suspension for his next transgression. With the Mavericks in a tight race to reach the play-in tournament, Dallas can’t afford to have their superstar missing any games. 

Bucks Sit Stars in Win

The Milwaukee Bucks are trying to clinch the number one overall seed in the Eastern Conference, and they took a big step on Monday night. Milwaukee picked up a big road win over the Pistons in Detroit, and they got the job done with Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

The Bucks announced the two absences early in the day, and Holiday was away from the team for personal reasons. Antetokounmpo missed the game with left knee soreness, and he has now missed 11 games this season.

Be sure to check out all our Daily NBA Picks!

All Media on this page by Associated Press.