Jokic is the MVP for the third time, Pacers fall once more at the MSG

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named NBA Most valuable Player for the third time in four seasons on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old Serbian star, who won the award in 2021 and 2022, finished runner-up in the voting in 2023 but had the satisfaction of leading the Nuggets to a first NBA title.

This season he averaged 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the regular season and beat out Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks in final voting for the award.

In another season in which Jokic managed to make brilliance almost look routine, he became the second player, after Oscar Robertson, to record 2,000 points, 900 rebounds and 600 assists in a season.

His 25 triple-doubles and 68 double-doubles were both second in the league.

Jokic enters elite territory with a third MVP crown. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's six MVPs are the most ever. Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won five apiece and Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James four.

Jokic joins Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson as three-time winners after earning 79 first-place votes compared to 15 for Gilgeous-Alexander and four for Doncic.

"We've got to start with the teammates. Without them I cannot do anything," Jokic said in the MVP announcement broadcast on TNT when asked to reflect on yet another award.

"Coaches, players, organization, medical staff, across time coaches, development coaches - it's all one big circle that I cannot be wherever I am without them."

Behind Jokic, the 57-25 Nuggets matched the franchise high for victories in a season - although they were tied for best record in the West with Oklahoma City and ended up with the second seed behind the young Thunder team.

As always, the MVP award offered plenty of scope for argument.

Gilgeous-Alexander, a 25-year-old Canadian, averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game for upstarts Oklahoma City and had a league-high 51 30-point games.

Slovenia's Doncic led the league in scoring with 33.9 points per game and ranked second in assists with 9.8 per game. He averaged 9.2 rebounds per game and became the third player to average a 30-point triple-double after the All-Star break after Oscar Robertson (1961-62) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).

But Nuggets coach Mike Malone was in no doubt that Jokic's third MVP was richly deserved.

"I don't know if I can put that into words what his greatness means to every team," Malone said last month, adding that he particularly admired the fact that winning the award was "not his motivation."

"When he gets up in the morning ... he's not doing it for the individual accolades and recognition," Malone said. "He's doing it for the collective to win and hopefully win another championship. That's what he's all about."

Malone said Jokic was a classic example of a player who makes the rest of his team better.

"That is what I marvel at, most importantly with Nikola as a player. Just the consistent greatness and how he finds ways to every single night, no matter who is available around him, to bring that level of excellence every night," Malone said.

"Basically, put that team on his back and make each and every one of his teammates that much better."

When Jokic won the 2022 MVP he was already back home in Sombor, Serbia, in the wake of the Nuggets' playoff exit.

Whether Jokic will be able to combine an MVP award and the title this season remains to be seen.

The Nuggets dropped the first two games of their Western Conference semi-final series to the Minnesota Timberwolves and face the tough task of trying to claw back on the Timberwolves' home court starting on Friday.

Jokic's victory marks the sixth straight season that the MVP award has gone to a player born outside the United States. The last US-born player to win was James Harden in 2018.

As far as the ongoing NBA Playoff race is going, in the East, Jalen Brunson shrugged off injury to spark a sensational second-half fightback as the New York Knicks battled past the Indiana Pacers 130-121 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series on Wednesday.

New York talisman Brunson gave his team a huge scare after suffering a foot injury in the first quarter which forced him to sit out the remainder of the half at Madison Square Garden.

Indiana exploited Brunson's absence to open up a 10-point advantage by half-time and were soon 12 points up in the third quarter after an early Andrew Nembhard layup.

But a limping Brunson - who returned at the start of the third quarter - led a stunning rally as the Knicks outscored Indiana 36-18 in the third to take a 99-91 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Knicks then dug deep to hold onto their advantage in the fourth, outscoring the Pacers 31-30 to close out a famous victory.

Brunson finished with 29 points and five assists while Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby came up big with 28 points apiece.

Josh Hart added 19 points with 15 rebounds while Isaiah Hartenstein was huge defensively, with 12 rebounds, eight assists and 14 points.

"We found a way, that's it," said an exhausted Brunson. "For us it starts with our habits -- we've talked about doing the little things from day one a little bit better, because you never know when they're going to help you in a big game.

"It's all about doing the little things well every single day, and we pride ourselves on that."

The victory came at a cost though for the Knicks, who were already missing injured first-choice players Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson and Bojan Bogdanovic.

As well as the injury to Brunson on Wednesday, the Knicks saw another player injured with Anunoby limping out of the game in the third quarter with a hamstring problem.

Somehow the Knicks hung on to edge past the Pacers, with Brunson pouring in 14 fourth quarter points and DiVincenzo adding eight points including two crucial three-pointers that helped keep Indiana at arm's length.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau revealed the team were uncertain of whether Brunson would continue after missing the second quarter.

"We didn't know if he was going to be able to go or not, but he found a way to get it done," Thibodeau said.

Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana's scorers with 34 points while Nembhard finished with 15 points and Pascal Siakam 14. Obi Toppin added 20 from the bench.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was ejected late in the fourth quarter after ranting at officials following a decision to overturn a double-dribble call against the Knicks' Hartenstein.

Carlisle took aim at the officiating crew following the defeat, saying his team had been unfairly treated.

"I'm always talking to our guys about not making it all about the officials, but we deserve a fair shot," Carlisle said. "There's not a consistent balance and that's disappointing. Give New York credit for the physicality that they're playing with. But their physicality is rewarded and ours is penalized.”

NBA PLAYOFFS

New York Knicks 130 - Indiana Pacers 121

Knicks lead series 2-0

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