On the night he received his third MVP award from league commissioner Adam Silver, Nikola Jokic again showed why he’s the NBA’s best player – slicing through the Minnesota Timberwolves’ various defensive schemes to slow him down, producing an inspiring masterclass as the defending champion Denver Nuggets now stand on the brink of a return to the Western Conference Finals.
Jokic crowns latest MVP award with another big game
Game 5: Denver Nuggets 112-97 Minnesota Timberwolves, West Semis
Jokic has 40-point, 13-assist game — Aaron Gordon (18, 10 reb), Murray and KCP (both 16), Christian Braun (10 pts, 5 reb, 2 blk) all in double figures
Defending champs can clinch series with Game 6 win in Target Center overnight Thursday, winner will play OKC/Dallas in Western Conference Finals
GAME 4 in Minnesota, Nikola Jokic hailed his team’s whole collective effort. Jamal Murray was amazing in the second-half, perhaps fired up by a buzzer-beating hail mary just before the opening half ended, next to the announcer’s table where images of him and a fired up Kevin Harlan commentating quickly went viral on social media.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was invaluable, as was Aaron Gordon, but he kept repeating the same phrase. “Now we need to defend home court.”
“We didn’t lose last year in the playoffs – just one game – but it made us stronger, more collectively together, we took a hit and bounced back, now it’s a best-of-three and we just need to win the next one.”
Only five other teams have ever gone down 0-2 in a series, at home no less, and gone onto win that subsequent playoff matchup. Defending champion Denver can become the sixth in the early hours on Friday, after their three-time MVP Jokic produced an inspired showing to prove why he’s the league’s most valuable player.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic might be battling it out in the other Western Conference semifinal (2-2, Game 5 at 2.30am BST on Thursday) right now, but on the basis of this all-round performance, they’ve got some catching up to do.
Jokic became the second player in NBA playoff history to record a 40-point, 10-assist game with no turnovers after Chris Paul (2018) managed the feat six years ago.
For context, much was discussed about the way Minnesota were forcing him to be uncomfortable with how intensely they were guarding him during the first two games of the series – he had 11 turnovers as Mike Malone’s side surrendered home court.
Less than a full week later, the discourse has shifted and is now centred around Rudy Gobert – awarded Defensive Player of the Year honours for a record fourth time – being made to look rather silly by the league MVP, despite playing admirably.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ aggressive consistency remains a genuine question and the Timberwolves’ star big man finished with a team-high 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, after posting inefficient performances at home in their two defeats.
By contrast, Anthony Edwards (5-of-15, 18 pts and nine assists) cooled off after exploding for a 44-point display in Game 4 while much of the pre-match buildup focused on the absence of Mike Conley, out with a strained right Achilles.
Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (14 pts, five ast, two blocks) shared the ball-handling duties with a few encouraging flashes, but they didn’t benefit from the same calming influence Conley has and that was emphasised in the third quarter.
Justin Holiday proved invaluable in Game 4 and here, it was all about Christian Braun’s impact off-the-bench — swatting Edwards and Alexander-Walker’s shot attempts — then channelling that energy offensively to finish authoritatively in the paint, being assisted by Gordon and their creator-in-chief. They needed that spark.
Michael Porter Jr had another frustrating evening to forget, while Murray was 2-of-8 shooting at half-time and Gordon took over in the second-half. Jokic spoke about collective effort earlier in the series and while this felt like another crowning moment for him on a personal level, he needs his teammates more than ever in Game 6.
Picture source: Getty Images, quotes via ESPN
Mo and Sports 