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Nikola Jokic moves to the next level now, validating his status as one of the elite players in the NBA while advancing into an even more rarefied stratosphere of all-time greats who elevated their team to an elusive championship.
The two-time league MVP certainly made up for falling short on copping a third individual award in succession, fronting the Nuggets to the first NBA title in franchise history with Monday’s closeout Game 5 victory over the Heat in Denver.
The do-it-all center was simply marvelous yet again, particularly in the second half, even if he didn’t extend his record of 10 triple-doubles in a single postseason.
“It’s why basketball is a fun sport, It’s a live thing. You can’t say this is going to happen until it happens,” Jokic said afterward on ABC. “It’s good, the job is done and we can go home now.”
Behind the Serbian center’s 28 points, 16 rebounds and four assists — teaming with fellow star Jamal Murray and a highly underrated supporting cast — the Nuggets slammed the door on Jimmy Butler and the pesky Heat, who fell three wins short in their bid to become the first No. 8 seed in league history to lift the championship trophy.
Jokic finished second to 76ers center Joel Embiid for regular-season MVP, which would have made him the first player to win that award three consecutive times since Larry Bird (1984-86) joined Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to achieve that feat in league history.
