The Denver Nuggets had 9 days of rest before the NBA Finals began -- is that a good thing?
Michael Malone admitted he didn’t know for sure but believes in some way the discourse surrounding the 2023 Kia MVP Award “definitely did” affect two-time MVP Nikola Jokic throughout the final stretch of the regular season.
“The negativity and knocking that happened this year, I know it p—- me off,” Malone said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it got to Nikola a little bit.”
Whatever the case, the Denver Nuggets center captured a nice consolation prize May 22 in the 2023 Earvin Magic Johnson award as the Western Conference Finals MVP, after the eighth-year vet logged his eighth triple-double of the postseason in Game 4 to lead a 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers. Armed with nine days of rest as Denver preps for the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance, Jokic enters Thursday’s Game 1 at Ball Arena (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) as the favorite to snag another valued piece of hardware: the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
Jokic’s current run of eight triple-doubles throughout the playoffs registers as the most of any NBA player in a single postseason. The 27-year-old rolls into the Finals coming off his fourth 30-point triple-double, and just three other players in NBA history (LeBron James, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook) have accomplished that feat on more occasions than Jokic.
“He understands the game,” Nuggets teammate Aaron Gordon said. “Makes it really simple. He sees you all over the floor, ushers you to make the right play just by kind of a nod of the head or a look of the eyes. He’s a maestro with the basketball. He’s a savant.”
What Jokic most wants to become is an NBA champion in leading a franchise that toiled 47 years to reach this point. Since the 2009 Finals, four different players — James (four Finals MVPs), Kawhi Leonard (two), Kevin Durant (two) and Kobe Bryant (two) — claimed 10 Finals MVPs. The other four were collected by Dirk Nowitzki, Andre Iguodala, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry.
Jokic is the early favorite to become the sixth different Finals MVP in as many years.
“I always think about this and laugh because that first Summer League in [Las] Vegas (in 2015), [he was] 300 pounds, out of shape,” Malone recalled of his two-time MVP. “He’s a nice player. If anybody tells you [differently], they’re full of s—. No one ever could have seen that he’d be a two-time MVP, passing Wilt Chamberlain [in the record books] it seems like every other night. That speaks to his dedication, to his craft. What I love most about Nikola, aside from his great play and consistency, is that he’s never changed. Success, money, fame has never changed that guy.”
And now, the Top 6 in our early 2023 Race to the Finals MVP Ladder:
1. Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Playoff stats: 29.9 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 10.3 apg
The raucous crowd at Ball Arena and the elevation of 5,280 feet above sea level pose issues for visitors, but you could make a strong argument that Jokic might be a better performer on the road in the 2023 playoffs. Jokic has averaged 33.1 points on 59.1% shooting (51.7% on 3-pointers) while raising his dimes to nearly two more (11.3 per game) in his seven road playoff games. In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, Jokic broke a Chamberlain record that stood for 56 years. He then displayed the utmost humility upon receiving the Magic Johnson trophy.
Ben Taylor from Thinking Basketball analyzes the brilliant passing of Nikola Jokic and puts his skills in context among some of the game’s all-time best.
2. Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Playoff stats: 28.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.7 apg
Winner of the Larry Bird Trophy as East Finals MVP, Butler dropped a game-high 28 points Monday to go with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in leading the Heat to their second berth in the NBA Finals since his 2019 arrival in Miami. Butler averaged 24.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 6.1 apg and 2.6 spg vs. Boston, as Miami is 10-2 when he scores 25 points or more. “I’m just confident,” Butler said. “I know the work that we all put into it. So, I know what we’re capable of. But nobody’s satisfied. We haven’t done anything. We don’t play just to win the Eastern Conference. We play to win the whole thing.”
Relive some of Jimmy Butler's best plays from the 2023 East Finals.
3. Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Playoff stats: 27.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6.1 apg
It’s inspiring to see how far Murray has come since tearfully asking Malone whether the team would trade him as “damaged goods” after the guard suffered a torn ACL in 2021. Since 1979-80, Murray ranks as the first player in the conference finals to average better than 30 points on 52/46/93 shooting splits. In fact, Murray is also the first Denver guard to average 30 ppg or more in a conference finals, posting 32.5 ppg (on 52.7% shooting and 40.5% on 3-pointers) in the team’s sweep of the Lakers. Pair Murray with Jokic and “you’re going to have a hell of a night,” according to Gordon. “Those two together are an absolute problem.”
More on the historic run Jamal Murray has been on in the playoffs 📰
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 27, 2023
4. Caleb Martin, Miami Heat
Playoff stats: 14.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.7 apg
Perhaps you hadn’t heard of Martin before the Eastern Conference Finals, but the 27-year-old had 26 points in Monday’s Game 7 win over the Celtics, which registers as the most points in NBA history in Game 7 of a conference finals or the NBA Finals by an undrafted player. Martin set career playoff highs in scoring twice (Game 2 and Game 7) in the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 19.3 ppg on 60% shooting in the series while going 22-for-45 on 3-pointers in the series. Martin played so well that he narrowly missed out on winning Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
Caleb Martin goes off for 26 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 68% from the field to help lead the Heat over the Celtics in Game 7.
5. Aaron Gordon, Denver Nuggets
Playoff stats: 13 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg
The offensive stats don’t necessarily pop out at you, but Gordon typically takes on the responsibility of guarding the opponent’s most dangerous scorer and excels. Gordon can defend most positions on the floor, but he’s no slouch on offense, either. In the West semifinals, he posted 12.8 ppg on 54.1% shooting and on a Nuggets squad teeming with homegrown talent, Gordon is arguably the most significant acquisition to date (just ahead of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown). In Denver’s road closeout game in Los Angeles, Gordon stepped up to nail 3 of 5 from deep. “I’m not worried about whether they’re going in,” he said. “It’s a matter of just shooting them with confidence fundamentally.”
6. Bam Adebayo, Miami Heat
Playoff stats: 16.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg, 3.8 apg
Adebayo collected team-high tying 10 rebounds Monday in Game 7 of the East Finals in addition to leading the team in assists (seven) while flirting with a triple-double in logging his second consecutive double-double. In fact, Adebayo has tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in three of his last six appearances in helping Miami become the first No. 8 seed to reach the NBA Finals since the 1999 New York Knicks. “We never thought it would be easy,” Adebayo said after Monday’s Game 7 win in Boston. “Nobody let go of the rope. The biggest thing for us is [to just] keep going.”
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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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