Basketball fans woke up Monday morning to learn that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won his second MVP award making him the 13th NBA player to win the prestigious award in back-to-back seasons.
Last season Jokic took 91 first-place votes and 971 total points among 15 contenders including Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid who received 1 first-place vote and 586 total points. While Embiid made it painfully obvious (last season), he believed he was disliked by those casting votes, Jokic took a much different approach and really didn’t seem to boast much about his new accolade.
Jokic’s attitude last season is what has likely caused some fans (mostly Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid fans) to come absolutely unhinged at the notion that Jokic was the better man overall last season and this season.
Some will argue that Embiid is still in the playoff picture while others will simply point out that the MVP crown is earned in the regular season. Regardless of your take on whom the reigning MVP should be, the panel of sportswriters throughout North America have spoken and enthroned Jokic’s second career MVP. Congrats Jokic, well deserved!
In other sports the Colorado Avalanche swept the Nashville Predators after defeating the Nashville Predators over the weekend in Nashville on Saturday and again on Monday night at Bridgestone Arena. Game three was expected to be a galvanizing moment for the Predators after Nashville goalie, Connor Ingram ‘stood on his head’, deflecting 49 shots on goal.
Game four was a close one until the fourth period with both teams knotted up at 2 apiece and for the first time, all series the Nashville Predators took a 3-2 lead four minutes into the period. Less than four minutes later Colorado defenceman Devon Toews tied up the game. Three minutes later, Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar fed the puck cross-ice to Valerie Nichushikin for the 4-3 lead. With less than two minutes to play the Avalanche closed the game on a power play goal after the Predators pulled goalie Connor Ingram and the Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored the empty net goal from behind his own blue line.
The Colorado Avalanche are now the first team to advance to round two, putting the remaining first-round teams on notice. The Avalanche will now wait for the outcome of the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild to see who they face in round two. The Blues tied the series up 2-2 on Sunday night and now head to Minnesota to face the Wild for game 5.
The Colorado Rockies are 3-3 in their last six with losses to the Diamondbacks and Giants in their last two games. The Rockies lost two games to one in their series with the Diamondbacks over the weekend and have games two and three in San Francisco against the Giants this week before returning home to host the Kansas City Royals after being on the road since Friday.
The Rockies are now 4 games behind the L.A. Dodgers, two and a half games behind the San Diego Padres, and one game behind the San Francisco Giants. Two wins over the Giants this week will help the Rockies leap frog San Francisco for the number three spot in the National League West.
