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Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic had a monster game on Wednesday night versus the Washington Wizards.
Jokic finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals on a hyper-efficient 75.0% shooting. It helped the Nuggets secure a 118-104 win over the Wizards.
Jokic had reportedly fallen behind in the MVP race following Denver’s recent four-game losing streak. Many made the case that Philadelphia 76ers superstar center Joel Embiid had surpassed him. The NBA also moved Embiid into first place on its most recent edition of the Kia MVP Ladder.
However, Nikola Jokic’s performance on Wednesday reminded fans just how dominant he is. This led many fans to take to Twitter to reproclaim Jokic as the MVP favorite.
Here are some of the top fan reactions to Jokic’s dominant performance:
"Embiid could never be this efficient"
However, despite Jokic’s big game, some fans still weren’t impressed, alleging that he was just stat padding late in a blowout game. Others also defended Embiid as the MVP frontrunner:
As for their season-long stats and team records, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid both have compelling cases for MVP.
Jokic is averaging 24.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 9.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks and 0.9 3-pointers per game on 63.6% shooting through 65 games. Meanwhile, Embiid is averaging 33.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.1 spg, 1.7 bpg and 1.0 3pg on 54.7% shooting through 59 games.
The Nuggets (49-24) sit first in the Western Conference, while the Sixers (49-23) are third in the Eastern Conference. However, Philadelphia is still half a game ahead of Denver in the overall standings.
Nikola Jokic on Nuggets’ turnaround following four-game skid
Following the Denver Nuggets’ win on Wednesday, Nikola Jokic spoke about the importance of the team getting back on track ahead of the playoffs. The Nuggets trailed the Washington Wizards by two at halftime before outscoring their opponents by 16 in the second half.
“We know what we needed to do. Because the postseason is going to be really short if we play like we played in the first half,” Jokic said.
The Nuggets have now won two straight games and three of their last four following their season-high four-game losing streak.
“Every team in the NBA, I think, has had that bad run. Hopefully it's done for us and we survive it. And hopefully we're going to play better now,” Jokic said.
Nuggets coach Mike Malone added that the team finally played like they cared after getting complacent as of late:
“We cared, finally,” Malone said.
“I challenged our guys in a big way at halftime. The way we played in that first half, that can't be who we are.”
The Nuggets will next play on Saturday against the league-best Milwaukee Bucks (52-20, first in the East).
