ESPN of the United States evaluated Nikola Jokic (28, Denver Nuggets) last week as “the best player in the world at the moment.안전놀이터” Jokic led the team and succeeded in advancing to the first NBA Finals.
Denver won 113-111 in Game 4 of the 2022-23 NBA Playoffs (PO) Western Conference Finals (4 wins out of 7) against the Los Angeles Lakers held on the 23rd (Korean time) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles (LA). With this victory, Denver made the series 4-0 and headed to the NBA Finals.
The protagonist of the victory was Jokic. He dominated the court with a triple-double performance of 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists in 45 minutes. In particular, he laughed as he succeeded in scoring the final layup in the 4th quarter, where he ran away by 2 points with 1 minute left. He scored 8 points in the 4th quarter alone and showed off his ‘clutch’ aspect. He smiled with the Magic Johnson Trophy given to the MVP of the Western Conference Finals.
It is the first time in club history that Denver has reached the NBA Finals. Denver was founded in 1967 and joined the NBA in 1976. After that, Denver’s best performance was to advance to the Western Conference Finals three times, all kneeling to the Lakers in the previous opportunity. He took down the Lakers after his 4th challenge.
Yokichi also personally left the first results. Jokic averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds and 11.8 assists in the conference finals. He is the first player to average more than 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the NBA PO Conference Finals. Following this, he succeeded in his 8th triple-double based on a single PO, leaving his name as the highest record in this category.
Jokic, who was selected by Denver with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2014 draft, will play in the NBA Finals for the first time. Despite his physical condition of 2m21cm and 129kg, he is considered one of the best centers in his career with excellent shooting and passing skills. He won the regular league MVP in the last 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons in a row. However, his performance on the PO stage was disappointing. Especially last season, he tasted humiliation as he packed up after only 5 games. However, he challenges the throne with the first record this year.