nikola-jokic Page 5 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Carolina and Florida engage in the playoff tradition of venturing into hockey of the absurd
Let me tell ya something about multiple overtime games when you’re emotionally involved with one of the teams. Somewhere with around five minutes left in the second OT, you make a deal with yourself. You won’t say it out loud of course, but deep within you know that you’ve crossed the threshold wher...
After winning the Victor Wembanyama lottery, San Antonio’s work is only just beginning
The conventional thinking is that Victor Wembanyama will be in safe hands with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. But there’s no guarantee that the Wembanyama era will be anywhere as fruitful as Pop’s last dynasty or that he’ll have the best career out of any prospect in this draft, but I wouldn’t bet a...
Denver defense nearly spoils Nuggets' greatest offensive performance in franchise history
What will always jump out most on the screen when watching the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets is their offense. Through three quarters against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, it looked like they reached the level of special that Keanu Reeves reached in The Matrix when he s...
LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokić, and the other Lakers-Nuggets Western Conference Finals storylines
We did not get Kevin Durant vs. Stephen Curry in the Western Conference Finals. Instead, the participants in the series are the best teams in the conference — the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers....
Can Denver avoid the choke when it counts most in the Western Conference Finals?
The NBA is down to its final four as this year’s conference finals have brought about Déjà vu, although this isn’t an illusion of the mind. Less than three years ago, we saw the same teams representing the NBA’s Eastern and Western Finals. In the west, we’ve got the Lakers and Nuggets in a rematch f...
The NBA's young stars balled out in the second round of the playoffs
The boisterous people of Sacramento were not a part of the second round, but the basketball as a whole was no less exciting. As predicted, the Miami Heat and New York Knicks matchup was late 1990s NBA without the fights, but the 2020s NBA was at its best in the other series....
Joel Embiid is right
Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić are starkly different people. Yes, they are MVP centers who were not raised in America, but the similarities largely stop there. One player is from Africa and the other is from Europe. One player is the most physically dominant in the NBA, the other combines size, court ...
Jamal Murray has been instrumental in Nikola Jokić’s playoff transcendence
Nikola Jokić’s first two MVP seasons were snapped short by title contenders with heavier artillery in the lineup. A year ago, Golden State broke their spirits by targeting Jokić defensively. In 2021, a shorthanded Denver Nuggets team got trounced in a four-game sweep by the Phoenix Suns. ...
Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia is doing a bad job of proving he’s not Robert Sarver
Monday morning, people weren’t talking about how the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets in a crucial Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. They skipped over the fact Devin Booker and Kevin Durant combined to score 72 points on a night that Nikola Jokic proved that he’s the rightful MVP with...
Phoenix Suns' Landry Shamet made the haters eat crow in Game 4
For those who wish to offer Landry Shamet a public apology, feel free. People with questions about the Phoenix Suns’ depth most certainly did not expect him to carry the team when Devin Booker picked up his fourth foul at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Without Shamet’s showcase from beyond the...
Denver Post columnist pens love letter to Nikola Jokić's undies
The low point of the NBA season has been the interminable debate over the MVP. From Kendrick Perkins and JJ Redick stirring an empty pot about prejudice giving the leg up to Nikola Jokić in the MVP race to Doug Gottlieb bashing his own skull in, blithering on about how race helped Joel Embiid win MV...
Overreacting to Game 1 of each NBA Playoff series
One game into each NBA postseason series feels like a good time to make some premature, bold declarations. The postseason tipped off with a fury of finishes that ranged from exciting to anesthesia. But Game 1 is a starter kit that we’ll try to extrapolate on. It would be wise to tread carefully in t...
Joel Embiid is missing his chance to put the MVP debate to rest once and for all
Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid is on the verge of winning his first league MVP award. He could’ve basically locked it up with a dominant showing Monday night against two-time defending MVP Nikola Jokić. Unfortunately, the 76ers announced Monday afternoon that Embiid will miss the game due to a ...
Joel Embiid has overtaken Nikola Jokić for MVP
Don’t count MVPs before they hatch. Nikola Jokić’s third consecutive MVP has seemed like an inevitability during the first three-quarters of the season. Jokić’s triple-double averages, improved offensive efficiency, advanced statistics, and Denver’s No. 1 seed in the Western Conference all appeared ...
Turns out the Nikola Jokić kicks a LOT of balls
Nikola Jokić possesses the most versatile skill set in the entire league. Assists — he’ll dish him. Points — he’ll score ‘em. Rebounds — he’ll grab ‘em in droves. His defensive impact is questionable, despite what metrics might imply, but there’s one area where his game-changing skill has translated...
You know what will earn Joel Embiid an MVP? Winning
The longest active win streak in the NBA ended Saturday night, as the Philadelphia 76ers stopped the Milwaukee Bucks’ 16-game run with a 133-130 win in Giannis Antetokuonmpo’s house. Joel Embiid and James Harden combined for 69 points, overcoming an 18-point deficit....
2023 NBA Anti-All-Stars: The dregs of the East
The NBA All-Star Game is an honor bestowed upon the most distinguished hoopers every season. Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re doing here. Their time will come. However, the NBA’s worst rotation players deserve to receive their dead flowers too. Stare into this dark void with me and commemorate t...
Nuggets’ All-Star power outage is either disrespect from the league or a playoff omen
Nikola Jokić’s season has been one for the ages. The Denver Nuggets are first in the West, first in offensive efficiency, Jokić is a god according to almost every analytics metric as well as the runaway favorite to become the first MVP in three consecutive seasons since Larry Bird ran the table betw...
When it comes to load management, Steph Curry says it's not the players who want it
The gentrifiers of Brooklyn caught a raw deal on Monday night. The Los Angeles Lakers are in New York on a back-to-back, meaning that LeBron James and Anthony Davis were only going to play one game. People who purchased tickets for the Brooklyn Nets game received the short end of the load management...