With Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the frontrunners for the 2023 MVP award, facing each other, the Bucks-Nuggets clash was anticipated to be an entertaining one.
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With the top-seeded teams of each conference, the contest was expected to be a closely-fought battle. However, contrary to what many thought, the matchup was a pretty one-sided affair as the Colorado-based franchise ended up grabbing a huge 129-106 win.
Even though it was a 23-point blowout victory for the Nuggets, the contest was as chirpy as it could get. While the Bucks received 3 technical fouls, it was head coach Mike Malone who got the lone technical for Denver.
Mike Malone received the technical in order to prevent Nikola Jokic from getting one
Late in the first period of the bout, Malone got heated as the referees missed calling a foul after Jokic was subjected to some physical defense.
Here, have a look at the play.
With the Joker being frustrated, Mike picked up the technical.
Why would he do so, you may ask? A smart coach, Malone knows the importance of his 2-time MVP.
The Joker and The Greek Freak entertain us with their duel
As expected, the two European superstars had some incredible performances.
Playing 32:38 minutes, Antetokounmpo managed to stuff the stat sheet with 31 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ big man put up – 31 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, and a box plus-minus of +19.
It was great to see the two favourites for MVP honors respect each other after their contest.
Both the stars have been playing great basketball and leading their teams to the top of their respective conference. However, with Joel Embiid’s recent surge in performance, it is a huge possibility that none of the two adds a third MVP award to their resume.
