The Denver Nuggets started off their chase for a championship on Saturday in Game 1 of their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Saturday’s game was a back and forth one between the two teams and it would need an extra period to decide a winner as the game went into overtime.
Denver was able to pull out the 112-110 victory in overtime, taking a 1-0 series lead over Los Angeles.
The Nuggets will now prepare for Game 2 on Monday as they look to take a commanding lead in the series before traveling to Los Angeles for games three and four.
While the Nuggets were not playing on Sunday, the NBA did make a massive announcement regarding their superstar center Nikola Jokic.
The NBA announced that Jokic has been named as a finalist for the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
The three finalists for the 2024-25 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award:
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 20, 2025
▪️ Giannis Antetokounmpo of @Bucks
▪️ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of @okcthunder
▪️ Nikola Jokić of @nuggets pic.twitter.com/55zmtRRUr7
Jokic is joined by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks as finalists for the MVP award.
Of course, Jokic is already a three-time MVP winner and with the historic season he was able to put together, he might be headed for his fourth MVP award.
This season, the 30-year-old center 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 57.6% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range.
It was truly a historic season for Jokic as he joined Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to average a triple-double throughout the entirety of a season.
He also became the first player in league history to finish in the top three in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game.
Although Jokic put together a historic season, Shai is the favorite to win the MVP award but it all depends on the voters.
Jokic was also nominated for the NBA Clutch Player of the Year award along with Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards.
The NBA MVP award will be announced at some point over the next couple of weeks during the playoffs along with the other awards and the selections for the All-NBA, All-Defense and All-Rookie teams.
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