Kia MVP Ladder: Pair of crucial Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Nikola Jokić showdowns loom
Back-to-back matchups between OKC and Denver may decide (or upend) who gets the top spot on the Kia MVP Ladder.
Shaun Powell
The Thunder and Nuggets will meet in a key showdown in both the West standings and the Kia MVP chase.
• Get NBA League Pass TODAY
There are moments in the 82-game grind that beg for attention, carry a little extra weight and magnification, that drip with drama and meaning and can contribute to something more important by season’s end.
Therefore, we present the following:
Denver Nuggets at Oklahoma City Thunder, Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ABC).
Nuggets at Thunder, Monday (8 p.m. ET, NBA TV).
This is where the Kia Race to the MVP Ladder makes a 48-hour pitstop and gives us the matchup we deserve. Well, sure, the Nuggets have a tiny chance to cut into OKC’s comfortable lead in the West, but that’s not the topic, because the Thunder could lose a game a week between now and season’s end and still win the West.
Instead, it’s Nikola Jokić. It’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. It’s the two-man arm-wrestle for the biggest individual award in the regular season, in a race that seems exclusive only to them, if not coin-flippy right now.
For the record, Gilgeous-Alexander is No. 1 on the MVP ladder this week, thanks in part to his fourth 50-point game over a 19-game span — and really, his entire season. But suppose the Nuggets go 2-0 against the Thunder in this back-to-back set of games and Jokić is massive in victory? What then?
Or if Gilgeous-Alexander puts distance between him and Jokić with yet another brilliant performance — he’s had a few this season — and helps OKC place another layer of padding on the lead in the West, it’s over, right?
Can a historic season from Nikola Jokić derail Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s march toward MVP?
Both will explain how these two games are all about the team, and they just want to win, blah, blah. To an extent, all that’s true. But give them a dose of truth serum and they’d also recognize the elephant in the room and concede that something else is at stake.
So, we move.
Setting the stage this week: You already know.
The stat to know: Gilgeous-Alexander is doing it at both ends, leading the league in scoring and at the same time only Dyson Daniels of the Hawks has more total steals.
What they are saying: “I was just going to let those three officials know that I’m not gonna allow that to happen tonight, where they’re just going to grab, hold, impede Nikola Jokić. That’s not the game plan moving forward to stop us or Nikola.” — Nuggets coach Michael Malone after getting a technical foul 49 seconds into Denver’s game with the Pistons.
Last week’s ranking: No. 2
Season stats: 32.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists
His case: The most methodical scorer in the game is a threat to score 50 points on any given night. He had no 50-pieces before this season, now he has four.
What’s impressive is how Shai is dangerous anywhere on the floor. He’s not a volume 3-point shooter but can’t be left open. He gets to the rim, and the free throw line, and of course is elite at mid-range. Defense is solid, too. He’s a complete player.
Last week’s ranking: No. 1
Season stats: 28.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists
His case: He’s averaging a triple double, his efficiency (57% overall, 43 from deep) is off the charts for a volume shooter, he’ll finish top-five in assists, rebounds and steals (for those who say his defense is an abomination). His season is historic.
Opposing defenses realize how much he means to the Nuggets and so they’re triple-teaming him, forcing him to surrender the ball and demanding his teammates win games. How many players are getting that level of respect? Just one. See above.
Last week’s ranking: No. 4
Season stats: 30.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists
His case: In almost any other season Giannis would be a strong favorite for MVP or at least in the top-two. Keep in mind he is second only to the Joker in double-doubles and arguably nobody else in the league is more valuable for his team, once you consider Giannis’ impact at both ends.
He’s the league’s second-leading scorer and should finish top-five in rebounding by season’s end. Of all the MVP candidates, he’s the best defender.
Last week’s ranking: No. 3
Season stats: 26.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists
His case: Tatum averaged 28 points on 47% shooting in February and strengthened his top-five case for this award. He was massive in a pair of wins over the Knicks: 40 points one game, a near triple-double the other. And he had 46 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and three blocks in a loss to the Cavs.
With the Celtics unlikely to catch Cleveland for the first seed in the East, it’ll be interesting how much Tatum plays in the season’s final few weeks.
Last week’s ranking: No. 5
Season stats: 25.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8.5 assists
His case: He made news this week by breaking the 50,000-points plateau, but his uptick this season shouldn’t be ignored. And put aside the he’s-doing-this-at-40 statements — what LeBron is doing now would be applauded at any age.
At any rate, The Lakers are in the thick of the pack below OKC in the West largely because LeBron has looked sharp — three double-doubles in his last five games and a show of strength during the transition from Anthony Davis to Luka Dončić.
6. Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
7. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers
8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
9. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
10. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
And five more (listed alphabetically): Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers; Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento Kings; Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets; Karl-Anthony Towns, New York Knicks; Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
* * *
Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Warner Bros. Discovery.
A handful of players who were traded in February are already impacting playoff races in both conferences.
Nikola Jokić moves ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the top of an MVP Ladder filled with changes.
With award frontrunner Victor Wembanyama done for the season, the race for the Hakeem Olajuwon Trophy is fluid.
With 5 weeks left in the season, Stephon Castle and Jaylen Wells are leading the pack in the pursuit of rookie hardware.
Pelicans to play preseason games in Melbourne against NBL’s Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix on Oct. 3 and 5.
Stay in the know on tonight’s NBA action with the latest news, scores and highlights from around the league.
The star guards in Oklahoma City and Atlanta take home the honors for Week 20.
RotoWire highlights the best players to start at each position heading into Week 21 of fantasy basketball.
RotoWire highlights the top performers heading into Week 21 of fantasy hoops.
Golden State and Minnesota are surging, but Cleveland and OKC continue to set the pace with 5 weeks left in the season.
If you are having difficulty accessing any content on this website, please visit our Accessibility page.
NBA.com is part of Warner Media, LLC’s Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network
KIA MVP LADDER
1.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
2. Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets
3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
4. Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
5. LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
The Next 5
RELATED
Early returns on trade deadline acquisitions
MVP Ladder: Jokić at No. 1; LeBron in Top 5
10 contenders for Defensive Player of Year
Kia Rookie Ladder: Castle, Wells lead pack
LATEST
PELICANS TO PLAY 2 PRESEASON GAMES IN AUSTRALIA
NIGHTLY PULSE: NBA NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAR. 10
SGA, YOUNG NAMED NBA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
NBA FANTASY: START/SIT GUIDE FOR WEEK 21
NBA FANTASY POWER RANKINGS WEEK 21: JOKIĆ ON TOP
POWER RANKINGS: WARRIORS, WOLVES ON RISE IN TOP 10
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokić for NBA MVP? What our experts are thinking
NBA
The Athletic’s NBA experts Joe Vardon, Sam Amick, David Aldridge, Mike Vorkunov and Fred Katz shared their thoughts on the MVP race.
Vorkunov: This is a razor-thin race and will be the NBA’s equivalent of the men’s 100-meter dash at the 2024 Summer Olympics. While I don’t have an official MVP vote, I’d have Jokić as the winner. It’s a hard decision, for sure, and Gilgeous-Alexander is the best player on the team with the league’s second-best record. He leads the league in scoring — — and his shooting efficiency numbers are the highest of his career. But Jokić is having as great a season for a team with significantly less talent.
Amick: Gilgeous-Alexander might win, and truth be told, I might vote for him. But the longer I’ve looked at Jokić’s body of work and pondered the phenomenon that is voter fatigue, the more I’ve realized that it is imperative to analyze his case as if he hadn’t already won the award three times before — or, really, as if he hadn’t ever won it at all.
Aldridge: In our current societal spasming, where it is better to be loud and ill-informed than quiet and knowledgeable, I’ll be accused of not coming strong to the mic when I say it’s a coin flip right now between Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić. There’s a clear case to be made for either man.
Katz: I hold one strong opinion about the 2025 NBA MVP — and it’s not about who I believe should win. With a quarter of the season to go, Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić are too close, a race reminiscent of the one from 2017, when Russell Westbrook and James Harden both posted historic stat lines.
Vardon: I think I will vote for Gilgeous-Alexander, or is it Jokić, when the time comes.
Preview: Nuggets Try To Bounce Back Against Thunder
The Denver Nuggets nearly kept pace with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the whole game last night. It was a tight affair, and Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dueled. Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. threw good performances into the ring, but the Thunder proved to be too much by the final bell. Jokic couldn’t keep pace with SGA for the whole game. He tweaked his elbow, and that clearly affected him. He only shot 43.5% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc – far cries from the typical efficiency that fans have come to expect from him.
In the final period, the Nuggets found themselves outscored by 21 points, and it just crumbled. Now, they face the top seed in the Western Conference on a back-to-back in Oklahoma City once again. It will take a phenomenal effort from the team to get a win. The Thunder have been far and away the best team in the West, and the Nuggets are struggling with a slight injury bug. Aaron Gordon hurt his calf once again, and the team should be careful with that injury, considering he’s hurt it two other times this season. Julian Strawther also is supposed to miss a month.
Who: Denver Nuggets (41-23) at Oklahoma City Thunder (53-11)
When: 6PM MST
Where: Paycom Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
How to watch/listen: Altitude TV, Altitude+, NBA League Pass, Altitude Radio 92.5FM. Do a really, really good Kermit the Frog impression and sing Rainbow Connection or Movin’ Right Along maybe that’ll entertain them enough for you to be the halftime show.
Injury report: Aaron Gordon – questionable (calf), Julian Strawther – out (knee), DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles), PJ Hall – out (G-League); Nikola Topic – out (knee)
The Thing To Watch For: Bench Production
With the lingering injuries that seem to always keep one or two Nuggets’ rotation players out, they will need to find some form of bench production from one of Zeke Nnaji, Jalen Pickett, or Peyton Watson. As of late, the first two have played well by their standards, and Peyton is just returning from an injury. With the three slated to be the main Nuggets’ bench with Russell Westbrook likely to return to the starting lineup in Aaron Gordon’s absence, they’ll need to show that their run of form isn’t just a purple patch. The Nuggets will need at least one to keep the game within twenty. If they want to win? They’ll need the trio to really give them their a-game.
The Thing To Remember: The Thunder Are Damn Good
Guys, the Thunder just are the league’s best team. Anyone other than them coming out of the West means that they disappointed. They’re the top seed by a wide margin for a reason. The rest of the West is good, but they’re great. They’re marquee, they’re top dollar, whatever phrase you want to use to mean great? That’s what they are. The Nuggets are not a great team this season. They’re not the creme de la creme. They are absolutely a good team, a well above average team in some aspects, but they’re not the Thunder. Temper your expectations for tonight’s game.
The Thing To Listen To: Dear Boss (Bricks) by The Clancy Brothers
Would be really fantastic to steal this game and split with OKC.
Hack a jokic time.
I can’t contain myself from all the excitement of going small to start the game again!!! 😃
I said this before: put full-court pressure on SGA. He is not a reliable ball handler when bringing the ball up (out of his shooting range). He hates that. SerbiaNT guards picked his pockets 4-5 times last time they played vs. CAN. Even if he manages to bring the ball up, the pressure will eat 10 seconds of OKC possession, wear SGA down, and take him out of the rhythm.
Only guy who could really pester him like that is Westbrook…are you advocating Russ match all of sga’s minutes??😉
And Jamal, CB, Pickett, let them all take a turn on pestering SGA
Thoughts and prayers
Hahahahah. Jamal. Hahahah. Dude would be so tired, and SGA will go right by Mal
Maybe not as bad as thought?
We keep rushing him back it seems…like he comes out and plays then looks great then out of nowhere looks weird for a minute then poof he’s gone again
I think that’s just the nature of calf injuries. Feels great but vulnerable to re-injury.
Need him for Round 1
If I were playing against the nuggets, I would guard Mal and MPJ on the perimeter and everyone else pack the paint. I would not guard one other single player, aside from Mal and MPJ on the perimeter. Pack the paint and double joker (play hack a joker ) with no AG on the court. We’re screwed unless someone goes off.
Part of the effectiveness of that strategy would be that hacking Jokic wouldn’t result in very many fouls being called against your team.
Unfortunately true
That pretty much are what teams are doing already and especially when they are allowed to hammer away on Joker. AG being out just ramps this up even more.
Starting Russ against this OKC? L. Damn it is true AG has either missed, got injured or was limited in majority of our games against the best teams. That’s crazy
Sounds like Jok likely plays
I’ll keep Picks open 5 minutes after tip off if people want to change their picks.
Jamal, Jok and Zeke all playing
Here’s the full clip from Shams. Sounds like AG likely out for a while. Gotta wonder if they just rest him until the playoffs 🫤 https://twitter.com/espnnba/status/1899199161678852531?s=46
2:46 mark here since embed apparently not working
Super-huge thanks to Asher for putting Muppet Movie songs in my head for the rest of the day
One of the best soundtracks of all time. Only miss is Ms Piggy’s Never Before. Love that movie so much.
Me too. I just didn’t wake up today expecting that as my daily earworm.
I remember years ago Rowlf The Dog put a pretty good CD 🙂
I also remember someone asked him how he was doing and naturally his reply was “Ruff”
Steve Martin asking a frog if he wants to “sniff the bottlecap” still gets me
You’re welcome lol
X engineers this morning (stolen from Blue sky post)
I don’t know what this means, but I think I’ll like it.
Kind of just referring to Elon’s “golden touch”😉
Looking for a bounce back game from Jamal and seeing him be able to break free against the defenders the Thunder have to throw at him.
The Thunder have elite perimeter defenders. Murray won’t be able to beat them. The Nuggets need to look at other matchups. Or better yet, quit playing iso ball and simple pick and rolls, and run their offense to get people open shots.
I imagine they just gunna double Murray every time like they did the last game…
I thought if the shots went in his game looks a lot better but yeah, tough matchup for him.
He was beating them all night, now Chet helping off of whoever he was guarding was the real issue
Also something to consider is we played Malone’s special ultra tight rotation while OKC had 10+ guys get decent minutes
So on top of being banged up we will be dealing with more fatigue than them
We are great on back to backs but this is just different this time. Hopefully we see silver Linings but after AG going down, jokics elbow, and the refs looking like they could care fucking less about OKC mauling Denver I don’t see a win
Malone needs to accept the schedule loss
and the injury reality and just play all available HEALTHY bodies… even if that’s Vlatko at center for 18 minutes and Spencer Jones at small forward for 20. Hell, maybe just spot play Murray and MPJ.
you know he won’t
when do we find out if Mal and Joker are playing?
Mr “square peg into a round hole” Malone
Is it true that OKC can clinch a playoff berth tonight? As if they needed any more motivation
Seems like that must be right. Warriors currently in 6th place with 28 losses. Thunder win tonight would be their 54th, meaning their worst possible finish would be 54-28. If they already have a tie-break clinched over the W’s, then yes, they’d clinch a top-6 spot with a win tonight.
Guess there’s our answer to Jokers “little injury that I have”/limp in Boston game
Time to punt and get ready for Minny and LA.
I would be surprised if that elbow contusion doesn’t include bone
Sit them all, we’re not beating OKC anyway – we know that already
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Perfect
“That really happened? I thought it was a movie?”
– Christopher Moltisanti from Sopranos
Wtf is with this schedule? Btb at OKC, first game an early game on daylight savings time day? Jeebus, this is a difficult team to beat without gifting them this much schedule and advantage
Yeah, between that and the injuries, it’s a pretty freakin’ rough patch of the schedule.
In order to beat OKC, the Nuggets need things to go perfectly. This ain’t it.
Personally, I’d start to focus on the Wolves and Lakers but that isn’t going to happen either.
They need things to go perfectly too…imagine if Jaylen Williams just left the game in the first quarter and SGA injured himself in the first quarter and couldn’t shoot. And they actually called real fouls on Chet.
It works both ways. OKC isn’t a juggernaut and I saw that yesterday.
No they don’t need perfection, they had Chet out most of the year and rolled still. They are very well coached and are going to easily win 60 games, something the Nuggs have never done. This OKC team is good and has handled Denver last year and this year. Seriously what is the record of OKC vs Denver since Jok called Chet skinny after last year’s first regular season game? Tired, injury, whatever built in excuse Denver has, OKC is the top tier and Denver is looking up at them.
Agreed. I think OKC clears the Nuggets easily this season, unfortunately.
First quarter of that game said otherwise. Anyway as we know with this team the regular season is a slog. It’s always been a slog and when it wasn’t then we were burned out.
This year was the AG and Jamal injuries at the beginning of the year (waiting for their contracts and injury management) that made this season a slog.
My hypothesis on the slog is defense is hard since Jok has to play at the level and he only turns it on in the playoffs. I’m ok with this strategy, but I know the doomers are not.
Not true. The one year they got the #1 seed they win it all, not sure why they haven’t tried to recreate that?
15th in defense then and just like this year I was told that was their downfall. Ignoring the fact you have the best player in the league and best 2 man game
I’m fascinated that we anoint a team that hasn’t done shit except beat a team that doesn’t have its best players in the first round. Whenever the lights are bright so far the Thunder have faded away yet they are clearly better than the Nuggets who proved they could do it? I’m just an evidence based person in making predictions and assertions. Trends in the recent NBA haven’t been favorable to regular season kings unless you have a cupcake run like Boston had last year
Based on this year, there are three teams above the rest. OKC and Cleveland have been stomping everyone, even though neither has proven anything when it matters. They still get the nod. I’ll give the Celtics the benefit of the doubt since they are returning the same team that spanked everyone last year. Nuggets have a puncher’s chance but have to be 100% healthy to put up a legit fight. Nuggets need a few more quality wins as well in order to be considered true contenders. Right now, they struggle… Read more »
So the #1 seed from either conference hasn’t won it the past 2 years? Some say Denver’s run was easy. Maybe there’s something to this getting the #1 seed and having an easier path.
What excuse do you give to OKC for bowing out so weakly in the playoffs last year? They had big leads on Dallas too
Youth, same as when Denver struggled with SA and Portland in their first run.
Right OKC still has some of that to go through and definitely with Cleveland as well
They had trouble with Gafford and PJ Washington, Shai was great J Will was ordinary. They weren’t as good as this year, and Dallas was a much better team than record as they didn’t really have a full team until the deadline. Once whole they more or less matched the top teams with a 70% record. My position more or less remains that our guys at their best vs their guys at their best would likely win in a one off game, but that’s not how the season works, you… Read more »
Grew up listening to the clancy brothers with my dad. Went back to it as an adult and wow the subject matter and overall offensiveness is amazing. They were singing about priests raping alter boys.
Also, asked a guide in Ireland about them in 2020 and let’s say he was not a fan. “Old fashioned”
That was a common occurrence in Ireland—maybe even more common than here.
The Rising of the Moon, The Irish Rover, and No Irish Need Apply (named after the signs Irish immigrants saw in New York and other cities in the US upon arrival) were staples in my family’s house, especially around St. Patrick’s Day.
Musicians influenced by the Clancy Brothers include Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger.
It’s frustrating that it was so well known and tolerated. They like to pretend it’s only recently become a known issue
Up until very recently, the church wielded immense power and influence in Ireland—and the abuse extended beyond altar boys.
If you want to see a great and very depressing film, check out The Magdalene Sisters.
Cillian Murphy has a very recent film that also deals with this. I believe you won the Bafta for best actor? On my “to see” list.
Definitely wasn’t saying it was only the alter boys – just used that example because of the clancy brothers song about it
And Sinead O’Connor dared to call out the church and condemn it on SNL, and she was savagely attacked for it (especially by Joe Pesci on SNL the following week). Her career was pretty much ruined by speaking the truth.
can someone recreate this with pwat?
Why the fuck in Malone so insistent on starting Westbrook?
Prob because he feels that’s the best way to get the highest upside out of Russ and because it worked well for a pretty significant stretch earlier in the year. Also, I could definitely be wrong but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jok prefers it.
It doesn’t matter for this game because we lose tonight anyway but I want to see Zeke starting with Joker over westbrook if AG is out.
At this point I just want us to end up with the 2nd or 3rd seed. 4th would mean we have to face OKC earlier.
Agreed. I’d be good with PWat as well.
Do we even want Jokic playing??
He’s not a great coach.
Just lucked into coaching a Top 15 player of all time and another guy who gives you 25-30 points a game in the playoffs.
He’d be a great football coach tho
which is pretty much the recipe for all “great” coaches
It is a veteran card. In all fairness his choices are somewhat limited: he can start Zeke or PWat instead. You cannot claim with the straight face that either deserves to start.
We should really count our blessings that he’s not starting Russ over CB any longer.
Deserves is an interesting word to use in this situation.
The point is that there’s no obvious starter to replace injured AG. I’d go with Zeke, but let’s not pretend that Zeke as anything close to safe and no-brainer choice.
We don’t have to pretend. It is.
Data goes back years saying it.
Gameplan. STOP PLAYING WESTBROOK FOR 30 FUCKING MINUTES. Malone is the Thibs of the West. Dude just rides his guys into the ground. Pickett came in a made a difference. Zeke didn’t score much but he played good defense. Watson was pulled for god knows what reason. Malone doesn’t know how to coach when he gets punched in the mouth. He is such a reactive coach who thinks he can simply rely on jokic every single game. BE BETTER MALONE. Everyone can see that Westbrook hampers us on the offensive… Read more »
He’s gonna have to play a lot tonight if we missing 2-3 guys
Jamal Murray thinks this headline at Thunderous Intentions is appropriate: “Thunder: Stick a fork in the MVP race, Nikola Jokic is done.”
Hahahah. MVP or not, there’s only one person who will say when Jokic is done, and that’s himself .
Sit Joker and AG. Play DJ, Dario, Zeke, Peyton, Pickett, Hunter (hell, is Vlatko ready?). This is a sked loss anyway. Get the Core Four healthy for POs. That was the old San Antonio model.
Agreed. Just sit all the starters except for MPJ (he needs more reps).
mpjs been really healthy this year, i don’t want that to change. i don’t see a handful more games of reps changing who he is a player, id start giving him some games off. but i can understand that opinion that him being a first option could get him on heater, although we’ve seen plenty that those are just flashes, not leveling up
Vlatko played garbage minutes yesterday.
Good point. I think tonight is a loss anyway. And not to mix points/posts but IMO the idea that we need “statement wins” is a fallacy. Not sure what those are anyway. Surely nothing from the first half of the season. Now statement wins only come in the playoffs for us. I guess seeding matters some but lord knows how you figure out which games matter in that respect. We play each remaining season game based on what’s best for the roster now. Not the standings. We’re in the playoffs… Read more »
My day job is in finance. I just received a statement from one of our vendors. It shows that we’re all caught up on paying their invoices. This is a STATEMENT WIN.
Exactly
OT: how crazy would it be if the Pistons end up with a Top 4 seed in the East? It’s completely doable — they are only 1 game behind the Bucks for that spot.
The NBA honchos are cringing at the thought of a Cleveland-OKC finals.
Plea’s Picks: Hope it’s hard to beat a good team twice. DEN+9/238 Aaron Gordon has been Denver’s second or third best player most of this season, when he’s played. Now we have to depend on the depleted bench even more, and Westbricking. As Asher notes, OKC’s really good, poised to come out of the West. There’s no sign that Jokic will sit this one out as well, but it’s wise to monitor that today. As entertaining of a game it was, it’s disheartening to see SGA grift foul calls like… Read more »
Top contestant picks: DoubleJay DEN/under; Log Dog DEN/over.
But you won’t give us Mancar’s picks so we know what to pick the opposite of?
Re: foul grifting – it is not players’ responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. It is referees’ job and ultimately the league’s responsibility. Foul grifting is bad for basketball and therefore should be bad for the league’s bottom line. Instead, they are busy promoting Shai as their MVP. Well, they’re promoting foul grifting as a part of that package. It is a choice they made.
Noooooooo, I selected OKC/Under and, apparently, did not hit the submit button. I get distracted so easily and have zero short term memory. I even thought of resubmitting, just in case, but forgot to do that too. BTW, Plea, if you are ever wondering why I sometimes have more than one submission and they all look exactly the same, this is why — I am never sure that I actually did it, so I submit again, with the same choices. After this experience, expect more of those in the future… Read more »
I thought I picked OKC Under as well, maybe I changed my mind
In my case, it is not a matter of an unexpected choice being calculated, it is that no choice was calculated, which means that no choice was submitted, even though I was on the page and completed the form, except I clearly did not hit the submit, since Plea did not receive anything at his end. That is clearly my fault, so I have no issue at all, just regretting my forgetfullness.
Fair enough, makes perfect sense. I sometimes change my mind and submit 3 one right after the other and forget where I ended up lol
your pick 3/9
Really need to be getting Watson lots of run down the stretch
Counterpoint: it doesn’t matter what logic dictates, he’s a young guy who got pulled from the rotation in the playoffs last year and never got regularly included in the gameplan or rotation 60 games into this year; I don’t anticipate him being a Nugget after this season one way or another
He shouldn’t have been pulled from the rotation in the playoffs imo and was absolutely included in the gameplan this year until he got hurt. He’s extension-eligible this summer. The stretches where he has been at his best he’s been a valuable player and would have a lot of trade value. If he’s not playing he has very little. Especially with the lack of depth it would be malpractice to not play him down the stretch. He’s looked best (like everyone) with Jok. Especially if AG is out get him… Read more »
Minimizing the talent of players outside the starting lineup and minimizing their trade value has been a core feature and not a bug of the Malone tenure
Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, Jeff Green, Monte Morris would beg to differ
Bruce started 200 games before he was a Nugget, and started 31 games for us too
Jeff Green was the worst rotation player in the league as a Nugget
CB came into the league a surprisingly polished rookie, but didn’t turn into this player until he was a starter this year (hence he will finish close to the top of MIP voting)
Monte Morris is a good example of a young guy helping from the bench, fair
Denver signed Bruce Brown to a TPMLE deal and after Denver “minimized his value” he signed a deal for $20M per year. We minimized worst rotation player Jeff Green into an $8M/yr deal at age 37. Christian Braun didn’t turn into a player until he was a starter even though he was playing regular rotation bench minutes in the finals as a rookie.
or, not playing him is best way to get him on a cheap contract
November 6th? That’s not even the regular season. But I respect his preseason numbers nonetheless. 😎
? Regular season started 10/24. That was 8th game of reg season
Exactly my point. Who cares about an early November performance? Indicative of little to nothing now IMHO.
I agree on the win “meaning anything” but length is what seems to bother Shai the most and I don’t think you can just throw out that Peyton bothered him a lot in that matchup.
Fair point.
The Essentials
The Matchup
The Three Things
Comments
Recap: Nuggets Strike Thunder And Leave With A Win
Game Thread: Denver Nuggets vs Oklahoma City Thunder. March 10th, 2025.
Sleeper Promo Code STIFFS: Best Bonus + Tyrese Maxey Free Winner Tonight
SHARE
HEADLINES
| Position | Nuggets | Suns | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Thunder |
| SG | Russell Westbrook | Lu Dort | Even |
| SF | Christian Braun | Jalen Williams | Thunder |
| PF | Michael Porter Jr. | Chet Holmgren | Thunder |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Isaiah Hartenstein | Nuggets |
| Bench | Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, You (the viewer at home) | Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams | Thunder |
