Nikola Jokic Most Valuable Player
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The Nuggets were able to claw back into the game, after being down as much as 14 at home to the Clippers, just six days after the blew a 25-point lead to the same squad. The Nuggets would eek out a 130-128 victory in overtime on what might be the best game Nikola Jokic has ever played. Sports betting sites all over the globe have Nikola Jokic as the favorite to win back-to-back MVPs, and his game tonight will help solidify that fact!
Nikola Jokic would finish with a stat line of 49-14-10 where his final assist would lead to the game winner from Aaron Gordon in spectacular fashion. Jokic tosses a cross court, skip pass, perfectly on the money, to a wide open Aaron Gordon, while actively being double teams, for his tenth assist in the final ten seconds of Overtime
Nikola Jokic currently leads the NBA in a ton of advanced statistics and is actively putting up the highest player efficiency rating (PER) of all time. If that isn’t one of the best curtain calls to follow up an MVP season of all time, I don’t know what is. Nikola secured his tenth triple double of the season, which also happens to lead the NBA.
On an evening following Aaron Gordon’s public rant about Nikola not receiving MVP treatment and respect from the NBA Referees, Nikola would end up shooting 16 free throws sinking 14 of them. He would also shoot an insane 16/25 from the field for 64% efficiency, while also tacking on 3/5 from the three-point arc. Had he scored a single point (looking at that missed technical free throw he took in overtime……) he would have been the 14th ever 50 point triple double according to Statmuse – https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/how-many-players-have-a-50-point-triple-double
Not everything went perfectly for Nikola tonight however, as he was often the victim on the defensive side where the Clipper continuously would isolate him on their slasher guards, and have them take him to the basket or pull up over him. This would be what made the game close down the stretch, but in overtime coaching adjustments would get Nikola out of those situations as frequently as they were happening, and when they did occur, Nikola secured a steal and multiple deflections and blocked shots when they mattered most.
The bench was absolutely abysmal tonight, with no player scoring more than six points, and three of the five that touched the court were double digit negatives on the +/- stat, the other two were also negative on +/-. The Denver Nuggets starters scored 115 points of the 130 total scored this evening.
Monte Morris did not shoot the ball particularly well, but he was +14 and finished with 19-9-9 which is spectacular from him. Aaron Gordon had a great night, but was noticeable hobbled in the fourth quarter and overtime showing favoritism on one ankle. Air Gordon would finish with 28-4-3 and a team leading +21 on +/-.
The Denver Nuggets were forced to play their starters most of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime to squeak out a victory over the insanely injured clippers who besides Leonard and Paul George, were also missing Marcus Morris and Nikolas Batum tonight. This is obviously not a great situation, but the fact that the team did get revenge from the game a few days ago, and walked away with the win will help ease the fact that it shouldn’t have been that difficult.
Bryn Forbes, who the team just traded for yesterday was not available to play today, but should be available soon. The Nuggets are currently in the middle of a six game home stand where they are 3-1 and play the white hot Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Pistons on Sunday before heading out on the road to play a home-and-home in Detroit.
Nikolas Night was obviously huge and the headliner of the evening, he set the entire NBA twitter on fire. Teammates took to twitter after the game, local reporters went crazy during and after the game, and national media rained praise on Nikola Jokic for a truly MVP performance.
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