The duel between the self-proclaimed “Best Player in the World” Joel Embiid meets the actual league-wide superior Giannis Antetokounmpo in an Eastern four-quarter war between the Philadelphia 76ers and hosting Milwaukee Bucks, live on prime time airwaves at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

Looking back at this season, while Milwaukee stormed out of the gates to play the role of the league’s most horrifying team to have to line up against on any given night, they’ve flourished with the Association’s most outstanding record while looking like the runaway favorites to run the East for this year and probably beyond. And for Philadelphia, they’re just about the same, but not when you look at their grotesque, nauseating and downright confusing 9-19 record away from the Wells Fargo Center. So, what better stroke of luck for these Sixers than to start their first road venture since the All-Star Break’s conclusion in the Fiserv Forum, where they were stomped by 11 in their last visit to frigid Milwaukee.

Now we know these games to be stocked to the brim in emotions; Sixers GM Elton Brand specifically devised this roster to equal the size, wingspan, and height of the forest-like Bucks, but rather than produce a carbon copy of Mike Budenholzer’s genius lineups that have generated the best average scoring margin of any team in the league, Philly hasn’t quite hit the mark on replicating the excellence they were predicted to have before their season tipped off.

When they snatched Al Horford away from the Celtics, they thought they concocted the quintessential Giannis Antetokounmpo antidote to stop him from terrorizing defenses inside the paint, (with Preseason DPOY candidate Joel Embiid’s help, additionally) ultimately opting for height-favored lineups and high pace to outrun, outrebound and lock down the Bucks from outside in transition. And it for sure looked so in their first shellacking of the Bucks on Christmas Day in a 121-109 home win, in which Antetokounmpo had one of his worst shooting games from deep of the season — a seriously inefficient 30-point game from the league MVP.

And then Game 2 on February 6 happened. Giannis exacted the perfect revenge when he exploded for 36 points, the threes fell like dominoes, Philly let the Bucks bigs go ballistic in allowing 48 points scored under the bucket, and further mishaps on the road caused anxieties among fans and media personalities on whether Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can co-exist on a championship-caliber team that really looked inept in their ability to space the floor enough for Horford, Embiid and Simmons to work.

Now for the current events: the Bucks welcomed back NBA activity on the road with a 20-point smackdown of the rebuilding Pistons in which Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped a regular 33 points in 32 minutes, two-time All-Star Khris Middleton couldn’t be guarded in his 28-point night, and the rest of the ex-Bucks now donning Pistons blue and red were dealt a 126-106 loss courtesy of the NBA’s talk-of-the-town organization.

Meanwhile, Philly further upheld their 25-2 home record in a resounding comeback from down as much as 20 points to the Nets in a 112-104 OT win that didn’t even see Ben Simmons suit up due to a back tightness ailment, as Joel Embiid put the Sixers on his back in an efficient 39-point masterclass.

Of course, he exclaimed that he was the best player on the planet in a postgame interview, further adding more bulletin board material for tonight’s clash of two teams that could very well meet in May during the Eastern Conference Finals if things shape up for the Sixers in their final 26 games of the year.