Nikola Jokic scored nine of his team's last ten points. He did all the things in the clutch to win, but in the end, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the defending MVP, SGA, who did MVP things better and delivered the three-point dagger with two seconds left that crushed the Nuggets in this game, and likely confirmed what Tim MacMahon had already said, "MVP is Shai vs. Wemby now."
Tim MacMahon was debating the MVP race along with fellow guest Tim Bontemps and host Brian Windhorst on the latest "Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective" podcast when he said it was down to two horses left in the race, and Jokic wasn't one of them. And this was before the SGA step-back three broke the Nuggets in the clutch, their seventh defeat in their last ten clutch tries.
"All due respect to Joker, who's not been the same since coming back from the knee," MacMahon said. "He's not out, but he would be third on my ballot."
The odds and the standings confirm MacMahon's stance
And per Bill Simmons, that's probably correct. Simmons tweeted out an updated MVP odds race, and it's got SGA clearly in first and Jokic in third behind Victor Wembanyama of the Western Conference second-seed San Antonio Spurs.
And after the latest heartbreaker, the Nuggets find themselves in sole possession of the sixth seed. There's no way the award goes to a player on a team who's fighting to stay out of relegation this late.
Okay, so it's not quite like how relegation works in the English Premier League, but that's what having to play in the play-in game would feel like. Having to play one game to determine if you advance, or if you have to keep playing for your playoff life is a nightmare scenario.
The obvious choice for the voters is to pick the guy on the team with the best record in the NBA, who happens to be second in the league in scoring, and just tied Wilt Chamberlain for most consecutive 20-point games. And he's 3-0 vs. Jokic head-to-head this year. Tough reality to admit, but the sooner we do, the quicker we focus on the big picture.
The Nuggets have got to figure out the clutch
The Nuggets are 3-7 in the clutch over their last 15 games. The Boston Celtics, by comparison, are 1-0. Not only are the Nuggets finding themselves in more clutch games over that time than anyone else, but they have also lost the most, and they have done it with a defensive rating that ranks second-to-last.
Only the lottery-bound Kings have been worse defensively than Denver, and their neighbors down here are the Grizzlies, Jazz, and Nets.
There's a lot of work to be done, and there are 17 games left, and Aaron Gordon is back. But it hasn't prevented the Nuggets from making the same mistakes yet. Maybe that's because head coach David Adelman hasn't figured out the right situational rotation. Nuggets fans hope he figures out the riddle to solve that puzzle soon, or a date with relegation...play-in, could be at stake.