Tonight in Philadelphia, it’s Kia MVP vs. Kia MVP as Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic meet for the first time in nearly a year.

But let’s not move on from Monday just yet.

From Trae Young setting a new record (by a lot), to Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. becoming the first duo to score 40+ on MLK Day to a (very) wholesome Shaq moment, let’s catch you up.

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 👀 Must-see from Monday
2. 📊 Historic performances on MLK Day
3. 🔥 Jazz stay hot, Lakers cool Thunder
4. 📸 Photos: Best of MLK Day
5. 🆚 Last 2 MVPs meet in Philly

MVP clash on TNT: When it comes to must-watch matchups, Nikola Jokic vs. Joel Embiid is tough to beat. The winners of the last three MVPs meet in Philly (7:30 ET) with both teams holding third place in their respective conferences. More in Section 5.

Thunder at Clippers: Two top-four teams in the West and top-five teams in this week’s power rankings meet in L.A. (10 ET).

Players of the Week: Utah’s Lauri Markkanen and Miami’s Bam Adebayo were named the top players for Week 12.

All-Star voting continues: Want to see your favorite player in Indy next month? Tap here to make you voice heard.

1. MUST-SEE FROM MLK DAY

🔥 Top Plays

• Steph shimmy: Check out the RIDICULOUS handles and finish from Stephen Curry that led to this reaction
• Too easy: Steph wasn’t the only one to show off some slick handles for an and-1. Trae Young danced into the lane, hit the fake pass then finished with the left-to-right scoop off the glass
• No-look dimes: Which Lakers’ no-look pass against OKC was your favorite? Austin Reaves with the lefty pass to Anthony Davis for the lefty finish in the lane? Or LeBron’s quick no-look touch pass to Christian Wood for the dunk?
• No-jump block? We’ve seen plenty of no-look dimes, but not many no-jump blocks as Victor Wembanyama didn’t have to leave his feet to get all of Trae Young’s shot attempt

🔨 Dunk Fest

• Wemby takeover: Trailing by 35 at the half, the Spurs battled back to make it a six-point game late as Victor Wembanyama had 18 points with seven dunks in the fourth
• Deuce Deuce: With Boston trailing by five in the third, Jayson Tatum ignited a Celtics run with a pair of two-handed slams
• Lauri gets up: Markkanen had just one dunk among his 10 buckets, but made it count with a strong one-handed finish on the alley-oop
• No stopping Davis: D’Angelo Russell and Davis run the pick-and-roll to perfection, capped off with a thunderous two-hand dunk by AD

🎆 Top Moments

• GG’s wholesome Shaq moment: Prior to Saturday, GG Jackson had scored a total of eight points in 30 NBA minutes. On Saturday, he had career-highs of 20 points in 27 minutes. On Monday, he followed it with new career-highs of 23 points in 29 minutes. After the game, he shared a hug with his dad, then lit up when he heard Shaq talking to him on “Inside the NBA”
• Wemby making fans: He signed autographs for the kids pregame, had Spike Lee up and cheering him on after dropping a 3 then showed off the handles for a dunk on back-to-back possessions

2. HISTORIC PERFORMANCES HIGHLIGHT MLK DAY

🅰️ Hawks 109, Spurs 99: Trae Young (36 pts, 13 ast) and the Hawks held off Wemby (18 of his 26 pts in the 4th, along with 13 reb, 5 blk) and the Spurs to avoid a three-game slide. | Recap | Trae-Wemby Duel

• Quick Traeb Young became the fastest player to reach 10K points, 3.5K assists and 1K 3-pointers in terms of games played (390), reaching those marks in 123 fewer games than any other player (second-fastest: Steph Curry, 513)
• Great company: Wemby joined Shaq (8x) and Anthony Davis (3x) as the only players with multiple games of 25+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ blocks at age 20 or younger

🔔 Sixers 124, Rockets 115: Joel Embiid (41 pts, 10 reb) returned to the Sixers lineup after missing the past three games (knee) and picked up where he left off. | Recap

• Another 30-10 game (16th straight): Tying Kareem for the longest non-Wilt streak in NBA history. Wilt owns the four longest single-season streaks ever (65, 25, 23, 20)
• Another 30-point game (17th straight): Trailing only James Harden (32) and Wilt (65, 25, 23, 20) for the longest single-season streak ever

🐴 Mavs 125, Pelicans 120: Kyrie Irving (42 pts, 7 ast) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (season-highs 41 pts, 9 3s) combined for 83 points to help the Luka-less Mavs hold off the Pelicans. | Recap | Watch the final 4:43

• Dynamic duo: Irving and Hardaway became the second Mavs teammates to score 40+ in the same game (Kyrie and Luka on Mar. 2, 2023), while also becoming the first duo in NBA history to score 40+ points on MLK Day

🐻 Grizzlies 116, Warriors 107: Career games from two young Grizzlies — second-year guard Vince Willams Jr. (24 pts, 7 reb) and rookie GG Jackson (23 pts, 5 3s) — led Memphis past Steph Curry (26 pts), a returning Draymond Green (7 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast) and the Warriors  | Recap

• GG x LBJ:  Jackson (19y, 29d) became the second-youngest player in NBA history to record back-to-back 20+ point games. Only LeBron James (five times) did so at a younger age

3. JAZZ STAY HOT, LAKERS COOL THUNDER

🎷 Jazz 132, Pacers 105: The Jazz extended their league-leading win streak to six games behind a combined 62 points from Lauri Markkanen (32 pts, 10 reb) and Collin Sexton (season-high 30 pts). Markkanen is averaging 32.6 ppg, 11.2 rpg during the win streak as Utah has climbed from 12th to 9th in the West. | Recap

🌇 Lakers 112, Thunder 105: AD (27 pts, 15 reb) and LeBron (25 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast) combined for 52 points as the Lakers snapped OKC’s four-game win streak while avoiding a three-game skid of their own. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points and six assists for OKC. | Recap

🍀 Celtics 105, Raptors 96: Boston got 22 points apiece from Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, and double-doubles from Jayson Tatum and Al Horford to complete the season sweep of Toronto. Boston took control with a 20-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters. Toronto fought back before White’s dagger corner 3 sealed it. | Recap

🔥 Heat 96, Nets 95 (OT): The Heat got a combined 60 points from Jimmy Butler (31) and Tyler Herro (29) – including all eight of their overtime points – as Miami won its third straight. Bam Adebayo added 11 points and a season-high 20 boards. | Recap | Watch the final 2:02

🔮 Magic 98, Knicks 94: Trailing 88-81 with seven minutes left, the Magic outscored the Knicks 17-6 the rest of the way. Paolo Banchero led Orlando with 20 points, while Wendell Carter Jr. hit the clutch turnaround floater with 44.1 to play. | Recap

🚘 Pistons 129, Wizards 117: The trio of Alec Burks (34 pts, 8 3s off the bench), Jaden Ivey (24 pts) and Jalen Duren (20 pts, 19 reb, 8-8 FG, first Piston with a 20+ pts, 15+ reb and 100% FG game) helped the Pistons snap a seven-game losing streak. | Recap

⚔️ Cavs 109, Bulls 91: The Bulls took their only lead of the game (81-80) on a pair of Coby White free throws with 10 minutes to play. The Cavs outscored them 29-10 the rest of the game to secure their fifth straight win behind Donovan Mitchell’s 34 points. | Recap

4. PHOTOS: CELEBRATING MLK DAY

Jimmy Butler signing autographs

Immanuel Quickley prior to tip-off

Myles Turner & Buddy Hield pregame

Tyrese Maxey signing autographs

Julius Randle addresses the MSG crowd

Grant Hill presents his father, Calvin Hill, with the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award

Donovan Mitchell signs autographs

Victor Wembanyama greets fans as he walks off the court

5. WINNERS OF LAST 3 MVPS MEET

When the Sixers host the Nuggets tonight (7:30 ET, TNT), it will have been nearly a calendar year since we’ve seen Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic share the court.

On Jan. 28, 2023 in Philadelphia, Embiid went off for 47 points, 18 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks to lead the Sixers to a 126-119 win over Jokic and the Nuggets.

It was one of Embiid’s signature performances on his path to winning his first Kia NBA MVP.

Embiid had been knocking on the MVP door the previous two years, but Jokic kept the top spot on lock.

• 2020-21: Jokic MVP, Embiid runner-up
• 2021-22: Jokic MVP, Embiid runner-up

But Embiid could no longer be turned away after his 2022-23 season as he flipped the script to give Jokic a second-place finish.

• 2022-23: Embiid MVP, Jokic runner-up

This marked only the second time that two players finished 1-2 in MVP voting for three straight seasons since the award was introduced in 1955-56. The other: LeBron James and Kevin Durant from 2011-12 through 2013-14 with LeBron keeping KD at bay for two seasons before Durant finally broke through like Embiid.

In fact, there have only been four other instances in which two players finished 1-2 in back-to-back seasons

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1st) and Jerry West (2nd) in both 1970-71 and 1971-72
• Moses Malone (1st) and Larry Bird (2nd) in both 1981-82 and 1982-83
• Karl Malone (1st, 2nd) and Michael Jordan (2nd, 1st) in 1996-97 and 1997-98
• Tim Duncan (1st, 2nd) and Kevin Garnett (2nd, 1st) in 2002-03 and 2003-04

As the 2023-24 season nears its midpoint, Embiid and Jokic could enter a class all their own. In the latest Kia MVP Ladder, Michael C. Wright has Embiid holding the top spot and Jokic right on his tail at No. 2.

If these two are on a course to finish atop the voting for a fourth-straight season, head-to-head games like tonight matter. While it may be one of 82 games on the schedule, how a player performs against their best competition can leave a lasting impression.