Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic displays exceptional performance, netting 39 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, just ahead of the imminent NBA MVP declaration, propelling his team to a 97-87 victory over Phoenix Suns on Monday night.
This latest win against the Suns extends the Nuggets' lead to 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals, signaling a promising journey to the NBA Finals.
"I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Jokic knocked down 17 shots to offset an off-night by Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., who combined to make miss 17 of 22 shots.
"Nikola's an MVP for a reason,” Malone said. "He can take over a game. He can beat you in many ways. ... I love a guy who's getting to the basket, imposing his will upon the other team. And that fourth quarter, man, 14 points for that team, 28% from the field, 0-for-9 from 3?”
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 35 points and Kevin Durant added 24, but they combined to miss a whopping 32 shots, including 14 from long range.
Jokic shined a night before he learns if he's edged Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo for his third consecutive NBA MVP award, recently renamed for Michael Jordan.
"I can't think about that,” Jokic said.
Malone said that's because Jokic isn't motivated by winning more MVPs but by leading the Nuggets to their first NBA title.
"If he wins, we will be celebrating and very happy for him because it’d be a huge accomplishment – three years in a row. Only a few guys in NBA history have done that,” Malone said. "If he doesn’t win it, I’m still gonna hug him and tell him he’s the MVP in my eyes.”
He sure showed why Monday night when 26 of his points and 12 of his rebounds came after halftime, when he dominated at both ends of the floor, denying the Suns a shot at tying the series that shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 Friday night.
"It was that kind of game,” Jokic said. "My team needed me to be aggressive.”
Thirty points from long-range this series have outscored the Suns.
"You’ve got to believe that it’s going to come our way here soon,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. "We’ve got to go home and take care of business. That’s where we are right now.”
The Suns held Murray to 10 points 48 hours after he went off for 34, but they had no answers for Jokic.
"Slowed down Murray a bit," Durant said. "He got it going in the first game. But Jokic was doing a little bit too much. I think we held them to 97 points in total. Usually, that’s a win for us.”
Jokic's big night was necessary as Murray shot 3 for 15 and missed all nine of his 3-pointers after sinking six of 10 in the opener, and Porter scored five points on 2-for-7 shooting.
Aaron Gordon added 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 14 points and went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, including back-to-back swishes that erased the 73-70 deficit and put the Nuggets ahead for good early in the fourth quarter.
The Suns lost Chris Paul to a tight left groin late in the third quarter and he finished with 8 points.
"He just looked like he was boxing out,” Williams said. "He just came up where he couldn’t push off of it or anything. So we’re not quite sure what it is right now, but it seems to be in the groin area. So we’ll find out more tomorrow.”
