While many believe Joel Embiid is the odds on favorite to take the MVP award this year, Nikola Jokic continues to make his case. In Game 4, Jokic dominated in so many ways to keep Denver in the series, despite 30-plus point games from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
The Denver Nugget hung on to beat the Warriors, 126-121 to force a Game 5 on Wednesday night. Jokic was the orchestrator on offense, as usual, putting up 37 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, but it was his leadership and basketball I.Q. that was the difference.
Nikola Jokic had it rolling from tip-off, scoring 18 of the @nuggets first 23 points on his way to 37 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists to force Game 5! #MileHighBasketball
— NBA (@NBA) April 25, 2022
Game 5: GSW vs DEN, Wed. 10pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/ACg4mKCwkY
Jokic, who averaged 29.3 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists over the first three games of the series, dropped 18 points in the first quarter that almost matched the Warriors entire total.
These two plays down the stretch helped sealed it for his Nuggets. First, he warned his teammates about a Warriors lob play from out of bounds that led to a turnover with just over 30 seconds left to go in the game…
Jokic called out the play from the bench 🤯#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel on ABC pic.twitter.com/e3gQkSHyas
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2022
Then his drive and kick to Will Barton in the left corner led to the clincher off a perfect pass to send it to Game 5.
WILL W THE DAGGER TO FINISH pic.twitter.com/cuPC9anvuX
— x – Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 24, 2022
Although 143 other teams who faced a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs has never bounced back to win a series, Denver is the only team to overcome 3-1 deficits, having beaten the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers two years ago in the bubble. Jokic believes that is enough cause to have faith via ESPN.
“The odds are against us. But we’ve beaten the odds a couple of times, so why not?”
