Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic set a new career-high for the second time this week while adding to his argument for MVP consideration.
Nikola Jokic just keeps one-upping himself.
Just when you might have thought the Nuggets‘ center had delivered his best with a 47-point outing on Sunday against the Jazz, he went out and put up a new career-high of 50 on the Kings.
With 50 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists, three blocks and a steal, Jokic is making a serious push to be considered for the MVP award.
That’s a center putting up the most points for the Nuggets since Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.
Funnily enough, Denver teammates wanted Jokic to go for 50 to start the week, but he came off the court content with his 47 with a victory wrapped up.
It turns out, all he needed was a few days to find himself in a position to hit that mark again. Sadly, he reached the milestone in a loss rather than a win. Otherwise, he might not have risked “bad karma.”
Nikola Jovic is putting up MVP-like performances
The Nuggets are 12-10 this season and 5.5 games behind Utah in the Northwest Division standings. That may be the biggest barrier to Jokic and MVP talk; His outstanding season isn’t resulting in consistent winning for his team.
By no means is that a knock on Jokic himself. He’s averaging 26.1 points per game with 11.6 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.6 blocks. Those are all career highs. You better believe he’s doing all he can to get his team over the line.
Competition for the MVP Award will be fierce. Jokic is right there with LeBron James, Luka Doncic and other contenders.
In fact, he has more points and assists per game than LeBron. His Player Efficiency Rating is the second-highest in the league. His Win Shares, Box Plus/Minus and Value Over Replacement are first by some margin.
If he keeps on like this, Jokic could be the first MVP out of Denver ever.