OKLAHOMA CITY — After Sunday afternoon’s blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone approached superstar center Nikola Jokić with a proposition.
Perhaps Jokić should sit out Monday night’s rematch. The Nuggets were playing in their second game in two days, their third in four. More importantly, Jokić was bumped and bruised, dealing with elbow and ankle injuries.
Not long after the Thunder ran away with Sunday’s fourth quarter, Malone reeled off to Jokić how much the three-time MVP had played during Denver’s previous four matches: 45 minutes, 41 minutes, 39 minutes, 38 minutes.
“This was not a rest game,” the coach said. He called Jokić “beat up.”
Jokić was blunt.
“Hell, no,” he told Malone.
Jokić played Monday night, when he would have been difficult to miss, dropping 35 points to go along with 18 rebounds and eight assists and leading Denver to a 140-127 win over the Thunder.
But minutes after this victory, Malone wasn’t surmising whether Jokić should skip any upcoming games. Instead, he sat in front of reporters and passionately lauded his star, advocating for a fourth Jokić MVP in five seasons.
“Obviously, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a great player, and if he wins his first MVP, he’s deserving of that,” Malone said, referencing Jokić’s fiercest competition for the accolade, the Thunder guard who leads the NBA in scoring. “My thing is this: If you didn’t know that Nikola won three MVPs, and I put Player A and Player B on paper … the guy that was averaging a triple-double, the guy that is top-three in the three major statistical categories, things that no one has ever done, he wins the MVP 10 times out of 10. And if you don’t think so, I think you guys are all bulls—ting.”
Monday evening marked the second consecutive day that Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić went head-to-head.
The Thunder reigned victorious in game one, jostling in what was a tight game for three quarters until Oklahoma City revved to a 41-17 run down the stretch, eventually pounding Denver by 24 points. Gilgeous-Alexander went for 40 points, eight boards and five assists in that match. Jokić went for 24, 13 and nine, modest by his standards, especially once accounting for his 2-of-10 3-point shooting, and injured his elbow on a hard fall to the court. He took only two long balls Monday, in part because he was still feeling the injury, he said.
But the second night belonged to Jokić. On top of the gaudy statistical line, he made 15 of 20 shots. Gilgeous-Alexander went for 25 points and seven assists. But Jokić’s Nuggets scrambled for one of the league’s elite scoring performances of the season, bashing what’s been by far the NBA’s top defense and racing to a win.
“I think part of (the reason Jokić wouldn’t rest) was also, we lost (Sunday),” Malone said. “And he wanted to lead this team and find a way to come in here and get a win today.”
In other seasons, if set apart, the individual brilliance of Jokić or Gilgeous-Alexander would be more than enough for one or the other to walk away with the MVP Award. That they are concurrently having such great seasons makes for debate. And, probably true to the race, each had their day in this miniseries.
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA in scoring, is doing so efficiently and has been a terrific defender for the bulk of the season. Oklahoma City is running away from the rest of the Western Conference, up 11 games on the second-place Nuggets.
“If Shai wins it, I’ll actually clap my hands and be happy for him because he’s such a great guy who’s a great player who’s good for this game,” Malone said. “So it’s not Nikola versus Shai. For me, it’s me promoting my guy because I know what he means to this game.”
Malone’s guy has a strong argument for the award, too.
Jokić is in the top three of the NBA in points, rebounds and assists, a feat no one has previously accomplished for a full season. He’s pacing to become the second player since 1962 to average a triple-double for a full season. The Nuggets, with Monday night’s win, are in sole possession of second place in the West, and that’s important to contextualize because Denver is not as good as it was in 2023, when it was the best squad in the league by far and steamrolled to the NBA title.
“This is my third or fourth year in a row, so I’m really — I don’t know. I cannot control it,” Jokić said. “Obviously, I think I’m playing the best basketball of my life. So if that’s enough, it’s enough. If not, the guy deserves it. He’s really amazing.”
But whether it gets him an MVP or not, Jokić isn’t trying to spend any upcoming games on the bench.
For all the talk of his everyday physique, Jokić has been one of the best-conditioned players over the past decade. He has crested above 70 games during every season but one of his NBA career, which began in 2015. The only time he missed that threshold, he fell one game short of 70.
So why doesn’t he want to sit? And why didn’t he care to skip that second game in OKC?
“Because if I don’t play, then I’m gonna work out with (strength coach) Felipe (Eichenberger), and that’s much harder than playing,” he said.
But whatever Jokić’s motivations are, he’s not missing games. Neither, mind you, is Gilgeous-Alexander, who continues to wreak havoc on the basketball world even with the No. 1 seed locked up.
The two have traded punches, especially lately. The world declared the MVP race over last week when Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 51 points during a heroic Thunder victory. Surely, that would be enough for him to steal the trophy. It wasn’t — at least, not yet. Later in the week, Jokić became the first player ever to score 30-plus points, grab 20-plus rebounds and dish 20-plus assists in a game, pulling it off in a victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Now, their MVP battle — a rare, same-city back-to-back — ends in a draw.
Gilgeous-Alexander takes Round 1. Jokić grabs Round 2.
This is anyone’s game — unless it’s Malone’s decision.
“The guy is just incredible,” Malone said. “As I say all the time, man, very thankful he’s in a Nuggets uniform so we’re watching greatness every night.”
(Top photo of Nikola Jokic: Nate Billings / Associated Press)
