{"id":77556,"date":"2024-05-15T10:42:48","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=77556"},"modified":"2024-05-15T10:42:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:42:48","slug":"timberwolves-believe-nuggets-nikola-jokic-best-player-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/15\/timberwolves-believe-nuggets-nikola-jokic-best-player-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Timberwolves Believe Nuggets Star is \u2018Best Player in NBA\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As Denver Nuggets center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> torched the nets on the way to a 40-point night, all the Minnesota Timberwolves could do was watch. A paragon of a performance, it was only fitting that Jokic received <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/09\/nuggets-nikola-jokic-third-mvp-places-top-10-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">his third MVP award<\/a> before tip-off.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Joki\u0107 receives his third MVP trophy \ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udfc6 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DPjKIjk5WO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/DPjKIjk5WO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BleacherReport\/status\/1790574845824057532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Serbian superstar also recorded 13 rebounds and seven assists while matched up with the Timberwolves\u2019 Twin Towers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Nikola Jokic put the stamp on receiving his third <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/KiaMVP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#KiaMVP<\/a> with a HISTORIC performance to power the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nuggets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@nuggets<\/a> to a 3-2 series lead!<\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udccf 40 PTS<br \/>\n\ud83c\udccf 13 REB<br \/>\n\ud83c\udccf 7 REB<br \/>\n\ud83c\udccf 0 TO<br \/>\n\ud83c\udccf 15-22 FGM<\/p>\n<p>Game 6: Thursday, 8:30pm\/et on ESPN <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VnA2Z8N3tq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/VnA2Z8N3tq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA (@NBA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA\/status\/1790621624145719447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With his whirling dervish play style, Jokic often had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a> teetering. Of course, the story this series has been that the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/08\/rudy-gobert-fourth-dpoy-award-grants-hall-fame-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">four-time Defensive Player of the Year<\/a> can\u2019t guard Jokic at all. That\u2019s not quite true, as the Frenchman usually makes the Nuggets\u2019 cornerstone work pretty hard for his points.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">People say Gobert can\u2019t guard Jokic but that\u2019s not necessarily true. The fact is, Jokic\u2019s just an all-time great player. The matchup between him and Gobert reminds me of Bron vs Kawhi in the 2014 Finals. Kawhi won MVP for his defense, yet Bron averaged 28 PPG on 57-52-79 splits <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D2Hm1mfLvP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/D2Hm1mfLvP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u211a (@qshironalberti3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/qshironalberti3\/status\/1790621672866812250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a> when he was matched up against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> in the 2014 NBA Finals, sometimes that\u2019s all a player can do, no matter how well they play defense.<\/p>\n<h2>Timberwolves Believe Nikola Jokic is \u2018Best Player in NBA\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>After the Timberwolves fell to the Nuggets in Game 5, Gobert was transparent about what it was like guarding Jokic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was in the zone,\u201d Gobert laughs. \u201cI mean, a couple shots I think I actually blocked and the ball went in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was just incredible in that quarter,\u201d he continues, noting Jokic\u2019s 16-point effort in the third. \u201cHe put the team on his back and he was making everything. Drawing fouls, getting to the line.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Rudy Gobert feels he blocked Nikola Jokic multiple times during his third quarter but they went in anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was in the zone, put the team on his back.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Xt1ZBzCQIa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Xt1ZBzCQIa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Shapalicious\/status\/1790621976899248636?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026I think there are things we should have done better,\u201d Gobert concludes. \u201cBut there\u2019s also plays he made that I think are tough to overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gobert is right. As previously mentioned, he\u2019s often made Jokic take tough shots, getting his hands on quite a few of them. Indeed, he\u2019s averaged 1.5 blocks per game in the Western Conference Semifinals. Many shots that Jokic makes are all but impossible, seemingly defying the laws of physics with their arcs and angles.<\/p>\n<p>However, there were a few bunnies that Jokic was able to convert at the rim after Gobert was drawn out the paint. If involved in the action, Jokic was able to put Gobert on his heels by driving aggressively from the perimeter. When Gobert was away from the action, Jokic darted through creases in the defense, playing the wide receiver role that his teammates usually have.<\/p>\n<p>Timberwolves star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> also spoke about Jokic\u2019s performance, taking it one step further. To Edwards, Minnesota simply was at the mercy of the best player in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just laugh,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s all I can do. I can\u2019t be mad, because he good, man.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I said that after Game 1 when we won, and Game 2: He\u2019s the MVP,\u201d Edwards continues. \u201cHe\u2019s the best player in the NBA. He showed it the last three games, three games in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Timberwolves\u2019 Anthony Edwards on Nuggets\u2019 Nikola Jokic\u2019s Game 5: \u201cI just laugh. That\u2019s all I can do. I can\u2019t be mad. \u2026 He\u2019s the MVP. He\u2019s the best player in the NBA. He showed it the last three games. \u2026 He was special tonight. I have to give him his flowers. He was that guy.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/C0x3kylQS2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/C0x3kylQS2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BenGolliver\/status\/1790615336837869670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 15, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was special tonight,\u201d the former first overall pick finishes. \u201cI got to give him his flowers. I mean, I don\u2019t know what we were supposed to do. He was that guy tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Ant-Man\u2019s Disappearing Act<\/h3>\n<p>Edwards had an uncharacteristically poor showing in Game 5, scoring 18 points, shooting 5-15 from the floor and 1-5 from 3. Half of those points came in the third quarter, but Jokic\u2019s otherworldly play demoralized him and the Timberwolves. Edwards only attempted three shots in the fourth quarter despite playing all 12 minutes and knowing a loss would put them on the brink of elimination.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old looked his age for the first time this postseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic torched the nets on the way to a 40-point night, all the Minnesota Timberwolves could do was watch. A paragon of a performance, it was only fitting that Jokic received his third MVP award before tip-off. Joki\u0107 receives his third MVP trophy \ud83d\udea8\ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/DPjKIjk5WO \u2014 Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":77558,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1608,20,62,3],"tags":[2109,596,72,394],"class_list":["post-77556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-timberwolves","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-rudy-gobert"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}