Playing back-to-back seven-game series, Denver had Oklahoma hand them a semi-final exit. After proceeding to the WCF, the Thunder showed complete dominance in Game 1. Addressing OKC's win, Mike Malone mentioned how Shai showed he was the true MVP, stirring up social media.

Another season removed from the franchise's first NBA championship, the Nuggets were part of a logjam behind top-2 seeds Oklahoma City and Houston in the Western Conference. While Nikola Jokic continued to do his usual work,

Malone was clear on Thursday (amid plenty of social media hoopla) that he would have voted for Jokic if he was given a ballot. "I did vote for [Jokic] again this year if I had a v