Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m still scratching my head at the decision Russell Westbrook made in the closing seconds of the Nuggets’ loss.
In today’s SI:AM:
🏀 A ‘masterpiece in construction’
🟠 Browns own up to their mistake
🏈 NFL’s toughest divisions
With less than two weeks remaining in the NBA regular season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the clear favorite to win the MVP award. But don’t forget about Nikola Jokic.
The Denver Nuggets lost a double-overtime thriller to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night, 140–139. The game featured a whopping 13 ties and 21 lead changes, including eight lead changes in the second overtime alone. Minnesota won after Russell Westbrook missed a layup in the closing seconds of the second overtime instead of waiting for the Timberwolves to foul him and then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a three-point attempt, allowing Alexander-Walker to win the game at the line.
AN INSTANT CLASSIC DESERVES A WILD FINISH 🚨
Timberwolves get the rebound, push it down court, and draw the foul on the 3PA!
Nickeil Alexander-Walker drills two CLUTCH free throws to secure the win for the Timberwolves 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/CSkEnU1rj9
— NBA (@NBA) April 2, 2025
Even in defeat, though, Jokic was the story. He had 61 points (on 18-of-29 shooting), 10 assists and 10 rebounds to become just the third player in NBA history to record a 60-point triple double. The others are Luka Doncic and James Harden, both of whom scored exactly 60 points in those games. (Doncic achieved the feat in an overtime game, while Harden is the only player ever to reach those marks in a regulation game.) It was Jokic’s league-leading 31st triple double of the season. No other player in the league has more than 10.
“Nikola Jokic, bruh, oh my God,” Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said after Tuesday’s game. “He might be the best basketball player I’ve ever seen close up. Besides myself to myself. Bro, he’s incredible.”
Jokic has won three of the past four MVP awards and has been excellent again this season. He’s averaging a career-best 29.7 points per game, along with 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists. He could join Oscar Robertson and his teammate Russell Westbrook as the only players in NBA history to average a triple double over the course of an entire season.
When Westbrook averaged a triple double for the first time in the 2016–17 season, it was such an unfathomable feat that he was a runaway selection for MVP, earning 69 of 101 first-place votes. (He also led the league in scoring that year.) But Westbrook’s subsequent seasons showed that stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis doesn’t automatically make you an MVP candidate. When he averaged a triple double for the fourth time during his lone ill-fated season with the Washington Wizards in ’20–21, he received just a single third-place vote. (The lone vote came from a German reporter who was also the only voter to cast a ballot for Doncic and Ben Simmons.)
Jokic’s traditional box score stats are indeed impressive. He ranks third in the NBA in scoring, third in rebounding and second in assists. He’s also second in steals, eighth in field-goal percentage, 18th in three-point percentage and first in Player Efficiency Rating.
Jokic is having a great season, but Gilgeous-Alexander has been just as good by many measures. The Oklahoma City Thunder guard is leading the league with 32.8 points per game and is second behind Jokic in PER. More impressively, though, Gilgeous-Alexander has combined that offensive prowess with equally exceptional defense. He’s currently leading the league in defensive win shares.
SGA’s excellence on both ends of the floor for the best team in the NBA makes him an uncontroversial pick for the award. You can never go wrong with picking the best player on a championship contender as the MVP. But it’s surprising that the race with Jokic isn’t closer. Gilgeous-Alexander is a heavy favorite at all the major sportsbooks (-4,000 at Fan Duel, for example), indicating that the betting markets believe he’s all but assured to win the award. Voter fatigue is a real thing, and so the reason Jokic is such a longshot to win a fourth MVP could just be that voters want to see someone else hoist the hardware. But maybe Jokic’s historic performance on Tuesday was enough to remind a few voters of how great he is.
Duke's Oluchi Okananwa shoots the ball against MiLaysia Fulwiley in the Elite Eight.
Fulwiley (12) is ready to become South Carolina’s next star. / Greg Fiume/NCAA Photos/Getty Images
… things I saw last night:
5. Alexander Ovechkin’s 891st career goal. He’s now just four away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record.
4. Mookie Betts’s third go-ahead home run of the season. He has only played four games.3.Stephen Curry’s 52 points against the Grizzlies. He also had 10 rebounds and eight assists, which, along with Jokic’s big game, made Tuesday the first time since 1963 that two players had 50-point double doubles on the same night.
2.Nick Suzuki’s two clutch goals for the Canadiens. He scored the game-tying goal with nine seconds left in regulation and then put home the game-winner in overtime.
1. Dustin May’s reaction to striking out the side in his first appearance since May 2023. May underwent Tommy John surgery and then had his recovery derailed by a freak esophagus injury last year.