DENVER — Congratulations, Denver Nuggets.
You just beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the hardest-contested series of the first round of the playoffs behind a team effort that salvaged a season that not long ago appeared in the dumps.
Your reward? A date with the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder and MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Ahem, make that the 72-win Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It feels good, but I also know that we’re flying to OKC tomorrow,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after Saturday’s win at Denver’s Ball Arena. “This was not the championship.
“I’m sure it kind of felt like it to fans on both sides because the series was so insane and the ups and downs were so crazy. It’s one of those series you won’t forget you were a part of.”
So much for savoring victory.
The prize for winning the next series will be a trip to the Western Conference finals. But the semifinal series will also be attached to one of the juicier storylines of the second round of the playoffs: Joker vs. SGA.
MVP debate renewed for Nuggets-Thunder
Gilgeous-Alexander, of course, won’t be the only MVP finalist on the court. Nikola Jokić has three MVPs, arguably should have won a fourth and is in contention with Gilgeous-Alexander to win another. What does Jokić think of the impending clash of MVP candidates?
“I think this is the last of both of our minds,” Jokić said Saturday night.
Fair enough. Well what do you think about your co-headliner in the OKC series?
“Very different player,” Jokić said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s playing on so many levels, speed and so many levels, scorer. And everything looks so easy for him.
“Even when you have, like, oh that’s a good defense, it feels so easy for him. He’s amazing with the change of speed, change of rhythm, ball-handling. He can post up guys. He can go by guys. Shooting the ball, mid-rage is perfectly — un-guardable basically. A very special player.”
The cases for Jokić, SGA
It’s high praise for the Thunder All-Pro who most have pegged to win the MVP trophy. Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring, is a high-level defender and just edged Jokić for the league lead in win shares per 48 minutes, a statistic that’s often an MVP predictor.
He did so playing for a first-place Thunder team that finished 16 games ahead of the second-place Rockets in the West. He’s the best player on the best team in basketball.
But many will tell you that Jokić should win MVP even if they believe that Gilgeous-Alexander will.
It can be argued that Jokić just produced the best statistical season in NBA history. It’s by most measures the best season of his career that’s already produced three MVP trophies. He averaged a career-high 29.6 points per game became just the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double. He did so as a center.
He grades well in advanced statistics too. Jokić’s efficiency rating of 32.04 is the fourth-highest in NBA history and comfortably ahead of Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30.66 that stands as the 25th-best in league history. Jokić’s win shares per 48 (.307) are just a smidge behind (.309) Gilgeous-Alexander’s and well ahead of third-place finisher Jarrett Allen (.243).
Jokić’s teammate Christian Braun made the case for Jokić after Saturday’ win.
“Obviously I come down, I think that Nikola had maybe the greatest season ever,” Braun said. “I don’t know if you’ll ever see a player do what he did ever again in one singular regular season.
“They were both great. I think, obviously, the Thunder are an amazing team. Shai’s an amazing player. So I don’t think there’s any wrong choice. To see what Nikola did night in and night out, I don’t know that you’ll ever see that again.”
But Jokić’s Nuggets finished 18 games behind the Thunder during the regular season. And it’s fair to project some voter fatigue in this year’s MVP tally, which betting experts have pegged in Gilgeous-Alexander’s favor.
But the next series won’t be about the MVP, as much as the debate will be part of the storyline. The MVP race has been decided, the votes are in. But what hasn’t been decided is who advances to stay alive in the race for the NBA championship. And that will be the focus for everyone on the court.
