Following their 0–2 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Denver Nuggets received some encouraging news this week. The NBA declared center Nikola Jokic the winner of his third NBA MVP trophy on Wednesday.
“I simply want to say thank you to my teammates; I couldn’t do this alone. Without them, I would not be who I am. Jokic, who was awarded MVP for the third season, remarked, “There were a lot of players that deserved it,” as reported by CBS Sports’ Kasey Richardson.
In three of the past four seasons, Jokic has won the prize. Jokic’s poor shooting performance in Game 2—he only made five of his thirteen field goals—meant that winning Game 3 would be imperative.
Now that the leader of the Nuggets has won another league MVP, that pressure has only grown. On Friday in Minnesota, all eyes will be on Jokic, who is more than likely to take the lead in reversing the trend in this series.
A setback against the Timberwolves The reigning champs are in a position from which no team in NBA history has ever been able to escape on Friday. Although trailing 2-0 in a series is not good, no team has ever recovered from a 3-0 deficit. The winning team has always progressed in the 154 instances that it has occurred.
Teams have recovered from 3-1 deficits before, but those victories did not come from 3-0 down. In the 2016 Western Conference Finals, Golden State defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder after coming back from a 3-1 deficit. In the NBA Finals the same year, the Cleveland Cavaliers took a 3-1 lead against the same Warriors club.
Jokic has accomplished something amazing that elevates him to NBA royalty, but the Nuggets need him to perform at a high level in Game 3 away from home or their title defense will soon come to an end.
READ ON:
With his third MVP victory, Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets enters an exclusive club.
The NBA announced that center Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets has been chosen as the Most Valuable Player for the third time in the last four years.
Jokic, who was listed on all 99 ballots and received 79 votes for first place, 18 for second place, and two for third place, for a total of 926 points, easily won the Michael Jordan Trophy. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a thunder guard, finished in second place with 640 points overall after scoring first on 15 votes, second on 40, third on 40, fourth on three, and fifth on one.
Luka Doncic of the Mavericks (4-36-50-8-0-566), Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks (1-1-4-44-23-192), and Kalen Brunson of the Knicks (0-3-1-28-32-142) completed the top five.
Jayson Tatum of the Celtics (0-0-1-14-39-89), Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves (0-1-1-1-3-18), Domantas Sabonis of the Kings (0-0-0-1-0-3) and Kevin Durant of the Suns (0-0-0-0-1-1) were also among those who cast ballots.
Jokic (Twitter link) becomes the eighth player in history to win three MVP trophies or more. He trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James (four each), and Michael Jordan and Bill Russell (five each). He ties Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Moses Malone.
In celebration of the achievement, the Nuggets tweeted a video montage with Jokic’s wife, Natalija, narrating.
In 79 games, Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 9.0 assists, capping another incredible statistical season. As Denver secured the second seed in the Western Conference, he shot 58.3% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range.
Examining Jokic’s remarkable season in more detail, Bennett Durando of The Denver Post pointed out that he placed second in assists, third in rebounds, and fifth in total points across the league. For the third consecutive season, he also recorded a true shooting percentage above 65% and recorded 25 triple-doubles.
Before the prize was revealed on Wednesday, Jamal Murray said, “I think he’s expressed his case very clearly.” He carries it out each night. It’s challenging to carry out his actions and deal with the kind of pressure he does on a daily basis. He takes the tiniest approaches to it. He improves everyone in his vicinity. We anticipate greatness from him each and every time he takes the floor because he is a leader there. And he’s done it. Throughout his career, he has consistently been the MVP. He’s been really reliable. Thus, I don’t think that will be affected in any way by one or two poor games.
