Zach Lowe named Nikola Jokic the Shai Giljos-Alexander MVP
As NBA analysts continue to react to Denver Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokić’s historical Christmas classic in 56 episodesdid he overcome Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race? Zack Lowe believes so. After Jokic and the Nuggets’ 142-138 overtime thriller against the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with the Thunder’s recent string of losses to the San Antonio Spurs, the landscape of the Western Conference has changed.
The injured defending champion Thunder (26-5) are still atop the standings, but not nearly as intimidating as a team that entered the NBA Cup semifinals with a near-perfect record (24-1).
At the same time, Jokic and the Nuggets were in the midst of a six-game winning streak heading into Christmas and are now just 3.5 games behind the top-seeded Thunder and 2.5 games behind the second-place Spurs, giving Jokic a significant boost in catching up to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in their MVP race, Love said on The Zach Love Show.
“Jokic has a big advantage in almost everything,” Lowe said. “You can find a few here and there, like dunks and threes, plus-minus adjusted, Shai is still a little bit ahead, but this is a different landscape than last year, where we all understand who the best player is, and all the other arguments, now it’s only one day after Christmas, a lot of things could happen. But Jokic took back the throne.”
Jokic’s incredible triple-double of 56 points (16 rebounds, 15 assists) led the Nuggets to a four-point overtime victory, as Denver is 8-2 in its last 10 games.
Nikola Jokic broke Stephen Curry’s OT record in Nuggets’ win
Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokic broke Stephen Curry’s Warriors overtime record in Thursday’s win against the Timberwolves. Despite taking the lead in the fourth quarter, Jokic’s 18 points in overtime ended Curry’s previous record for most points (17 points) scored in overtime, per Underdog NBA.
After Jokic’s 56-point triple-double against the Timberwolves, the Nuggets will embark on a seven-game road trip, starting with the Magic on Friday.
2025-12-26 23:27:00
