By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named MVP of the Week in the Western Conference, the NBA announced.
The Serbian center, fresh of a career-high-tying performance in a win, claimed the weekly MVP award for a second straight time this season, becoming the first Nuggets player to do so since Carmelo Anthony 14 years ago.
Per Nuggets:
The NBA has announced that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday Jan. 25th to Sunday Jan. 31st.
Jokić wins the award in consecutive weeks, becoming the first Nugget to win in back-to-back weeks since Carmelo Anthony in 2006 (11/27/06 & 12/4/06). He has now earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors eight times in his career, the second most in franchise history.
Jokić, 25, averaged 30.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.30 steals while shooting .623 from the field and .455 from three-point range. He helped lead the Nuggets to a 3-1 week, including a home win over the Utah Jazz on 1/31, snapping their 11-game winning streak and two road wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat. The 3-1 week moved Denver’s record to 12-8, fourth best in the Western Conference.
Jokić started the week by registering 20 points (8-13 FG’s), 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals in a road victory over the Dallas Mavericks on 1/25. Denver then headed to Miami, where he put up a stat-line of 21 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes. Jokić followed that performance up with another massive game, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and one steal at San Antonio on 1/29. He finished the week with arguably the best game of his career vs. Utah, tying a career-high with 47 points (17-26 FG’s), 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals in 37 minutes, becoming the first Nugget to ever post those numbers. He scored 22 points in the first quarter and 33 points in the first half, both career-highs in any single quarter or half.
Jokić leads the NBA in PER, is third in total assists, fifth in assists per game, sixth in rebounds per game and 12th in scoring, while averaging 26.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.75 steals in 35.8 minutes. He has also produced a double-double in all 20 games, becoming just the second player since 1976 to record a double-double in each of the first 20 games (Walton).