Despite a "rough couple of weeks," Brian Windhorst still chose Nikola Jokic over Jaylen Brown for MVP. However, he's quickly reminded by Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, "but the problem is he has to play 65 games, right?" And therein lies potentially the biggest hurdle for the Joker to overcome in the MVP race.
The 65-game rule has been talked about a lot this year, and for good reason. Thanks to the rule that came into place to try to discourage the resting of star players late in the season, stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, and LeBron James are ineligible for all postseason awards. The All-NBA teams will have a completely different look this season.
Both analysts picked Jokic over Brown, but Russo couldn't get off the 65-game rule problem. Jokic, who's missed 16 games with a knee injury, can only miss one more game, to which Russo stated adamantly, "He's not gonna do that." But he might try.
The Nuggets are currently battling for a home playoff game in the first round, not just coasting to a one or two seed in the crowded Western Conference playoff standings. Every win counts, and the remaining schedule, still toughest in the league, doesn't make that battle any easier.
There are other hurdles for Jokic to clear
One other hurdle for the Joker is the return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who's coming back to the lineup against the Nuggets after missing nine-straight games with an abdominal injury. SGA is currently the odds-on favorite to win the award, but even he's missed 11 of the 17 allowable games. It's a better cushion than Jokic has.
The final hurdle, which ties in Russo's point of "there's no way," is Jokic's health. He's been battling some discomfort in his right wrist, which could be one of the reasons he's experienced the rough stretch. He hasn't been handling the ball as well, turning it over much more than we've seen him do, and his shooting percentage, while still great, is down just a bit from his season averages.
However, those points aside, Jokic is having his best season. Ever. He's won three MVP awards, and he's doing everything he can for his fourth. He's having a career year in all the advanced metric categories that he's already the career leader in, and he's leading the league in both rebounds and assists, something no player has ever done.
His recent rough patch has been exacerbated by the team's poor performances in the clutch. The Nuggets are just 1-5 in their last 6 clutch games since Jokic returned from injury.
He's had some turnovers that may have cost them the game, but they wouldn't have been in those games had it not been for his 30-20-10 efforts most nights. Clearly, still MVP-caliber.