How Giannis Antetokounmpo's Playing Status vs. Cavs Affects Embiid

The Philadelphia 76ers are scheduled to play their regular-season finale on Sunday night at home. For the final time this season, the Sixers will face off against the Detroit Pistons. With a win on Sunday, the Sixers could put themselves in a position to move up in the Eastern Conference standings.

If the Boston Celtics struggle to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday, the Sixers would have an opportunity to move up in the standings as long as everything goes their way in their own matchup. But the Detroit-Philly, Boston-Memphis games aren't the only two matchups to keep an eye on for Sunday's slate if you're a Sixers fan.

While the Milwaukee Bucks currently aren't a factor to the Sixers as they are locked into the second seed, their star big man Giannis Antetokounmpo is in direct competition with Philly's big man, Joel Embiid. 

Not only is Embiid working on an MVP campaign currently, but he's also leading the NBA in points per game. If all goes right for Embiid on Sunday, he'll become the NBA's scoring champion for the first time in his career.

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was ruled out for the rest of the season. James became ineligible to become the league's scoring champion this season with that decision. With LeBron out of the picture, Antetokounmpo trails Embiid as he's averaging 29.9 points per game this year. 

It would take a lot for Antetokounmpo to surpass Embiid on Sunday in Milwaukee's game against Cleveland, but it seems the former MVP might not even have the opportunity to try as he's listed as doubtful against the Cavaliers.

According to the Bucks' injury report, Antetokounmpo is dealing with knee soreness. Therefore, he's unlikely to risk playing on Sunday as the Bucks are playoff-bound. 

Embiid is more than likely on his way to notching the scoring title on Sunday with his 30.6 points per game. Whether he'll increase that number by playing on Sunday or not is unclear, but winning the league's scoring title will look good for Embiid's MVP campaign against Antetokounmpo's and Nikola Jokic's.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.