For the second time this postseason, the Denver Nuggets are doing things the hard way.
After beating the Los Angeles Clippers in a seven-game thriller, Nikola Jokic and his teammates face another winner-takes-all decider against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Jokic put up 29 points and 14 rebounds in a Game 6 victory, while MVP rival Shai Gilgeous-Alexander managed 32 points.
The NBA‘s two most potent weapons will play pivotal roles in Sunday’s showdown and experience is on the Serbian’s side.
SGA has only been involved in one Game 7 collision, scoring 19 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets in 2020.
Jokic, meanwhile, has been at this stage six times and won four of those.
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He averaged 24.3 points and 15.5 rebounds in those crunch clashes.
When elimination is on the line, not even legendary clutch performer Michael Jordan can match Joker.
Only the three-time MVP and LeBron James have managed over 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists per game with the possibility of being sent to Cancun hanging over them.
Although King James could do nothing to stop the Los Angeles Lakers hitting the beach early this season.
Asked to share some wisdom on how the Nuggets should go about keeping their cool, Jokic kept it simple.
“Defense. Details. Box out. Turnovers. That will probably decide the winner,” he said. “I think this is the first time we didn’t have offensive fouls in the series. That’s helpful.”
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ESPN’s NBA Countdown discussed Joker’s big-game performances on Saturday and Kedrick Perkins made a bold claim.
“Perk, you wouldn’t have wanted to face Jokic in Game 7, in an elimination game,” said host Malika Andrews.
“Jokic wouldn’t have wanted this smoke. Kobe [Bryant] said I was the best post defender in the league,” insisted Perkins.
Fans quickly poured into the comments to share clips of Jokic ‘cooking’ Perkins — then a 12-year vet — as a rookie.
Jokic is looking to join an elite group of centers to win four MVP awards.
Only iconic big men Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have achieved the feat.
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But SGA — the NBA’s offensive leader — is the favorite to earn a first crown.
The playoff series will not decide where The Michael Jordan Trophy goes as it is a regular season award.
But Ja Morant thinks a delay in announcing the winner is due to the Buggers and Thunder duking it out.
“They got to see who win the series first,” he commented on a post from Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland that asked what league bosses were waiting for.
Last year Jokic scooped his award on May 8.
The winner will take on the Timberwolves, who needed just five games to see off the Golden State Warriors, in the Conference Finals.
And while Jokic and SGA were the presumed MVP contenders, Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards has his own claim for the most dominant player in The Association.
“[Ant] is the brightest star in the world,” Minnesota teammate Julius Randle said on TNT. “Anywhere he goes, all eyes on him.”
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MJ himself was ahead of the curve in praising the highly athletic and confident Edwards, who is averaging 26.5 points on 44.5 percent shooting in the playoffs while leading the best Timberwolves team in 20 years.
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“That brother is special,” Jordan told ESPN in April. “No question about it.”
Jordan also told Fox Sports that he sees some of himself in Edwards’ aggressive playing style, which regularly involves no-holds barred trash talking.
