Jokic beats Antetokounmpo in the MVP battle

The Denver Nuggets gave themselves a chance for self-esteem tonight by defeating the fittest (and certainly the best) team in the league. In fact, the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss is the fourth in the past two months. They still have two games to go before the Boston Celtics and first place in the East doesn’t look like it’s in jeopardy except for one last disaster. And no one in the West, which is occupied by some Nuggets who are three and a half wins short of their closest pursuer, the Memphis Grizzlies.

We said it’s an adrenaline shot for the Nuggets because for a while they don’t look like the reliable team they’ve been for most of the season. For example, they are 5-5 in their last ten games, which is an unremarkable record for a conference leader. But today they have put the arguments that have led them to lead the West for months on track. Especially in the third quarter they broke the game with a score of 34-19.

Until the break things were more balanced. And a lot more if we compare it to the other duel between these two teams in Milwaukee on January 25, in which Nuggets coach Mike Malone decided to rest four of the five starting linebackers. Today they were all in, also in bucks, and the visitors went ahead at halftime. In the first two quarters, Giannis Antetokounmpo made 24 of his 31 points, hitting 11 of 14 shots, all but one under the basket. But the second part was another song.

The two-time MVP ran out of ideas and even starred in spite of himself, with Jeff Green trailing him at the start of the last period. At that point, the Nuggets had already broken through. A 3-pointer directly after Grayson Allen was the Bucks’ last attempt to hang on to the game. They were down by 12 with 10 minutes remaining, but shot the next four without scoring a single basket. When they wanted to realize it, they were losing 20. In the Nuggets, another double-double player of the game, Nikola Jokic, stood out with 31 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists. Jamal Marei also got 26 points and 50% three times, in addition to distributing 9 basket tickets.

Between Jokic and Giannis, MVP may come back again, as long as Joel Embiid doesn’t block him. The two biggest representatives of European basketball in the world with Luka Doncic once again completed a perfect regular season and want to extend a streak that will not be broken, on the other hand, it is still incredible. No American player has been considered the best of the season in the NBA since 2018. Globalization has been this.