Nikola Jokic just misses out on another NBA MVP award, comes in second in voting to Joel Embiid
It was another amazing NBA regular season for Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, but he came up short in the voting for the league's Most Valuable Player award. Jokic was beaten out by Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.
Giannis Antetokounmpo came in third in the voting, which was revealed on Tuesday night.
Jokic had won the award in the past two seasons. This season he averaged nearly a triple-double: 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists. Embiid led the NBA in scoring in the regular season, averaging 33.1 points while pulling down 10.2 rebounds per game with 4.2 assists per game.
Embiid received 73 first-place votes. Jokic received 15 first-place votes, and Antetokounmpo got 12. In total, Jokic received 674 points to Embiid's 915. Votes are weighed by which place they were received for; first-place votes are worth 10 points, second-place votes worth seven points, third-place votes worth five, and fourth- and fifth-place worth three points and one point, respectively.
The Nuggets are currently up on the Phoenix Suns in their Western Conference Semifinals series 2-0 after a win on Monday night powered by Jokic's 39 points. The series now shifts from Colorado to Arizona with Game 3 on Friday.
