Nikola Jokic Had A Game Saving Block (That Was Probably A Foul) On Zion Williamson

Nikola Jokic’s status as the MVP frontrunner certainly won’t take a hit after his performance on Wednesday, as he led the Nuggets to a 114-112 win, stuffing the stat sheet once again with 32 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

Among the biggest arguments against Jokic, and typically the argument made by those who see Joel Embiid as the MVP this season, is the difference in their impact on the defensive end. Jokic is a perfectly fine defender, but is not the defensive force Embiid is in anchoring the Sixers on that end. However, on Wednesday night, Jokic’s finest individual act came in the closing seconds on the defensive end, where he saved the Nuggets from blowing a late lead with an improbably block on, of all people, Zion Williamson.

After Brandon Ingram drew the defense late, he fed Williamson in the dunker’s spot who had a clean look at the rim, but Jokic was able to swat away his attempt from behind. The initial look from the broadcast and the first replay make it seem like a plausibly clean block.

That is what was ruled on the floor as the Nuggets escaped with a win, but the baseline angle showed Jokic getting an awful lot of Williamson’s wrist on the play.

From the angle the referees had, they didn’t spot that and so the play was deemed clean and Denver escaped with a win that pulls them five full games ahead of the Lakers for the 4-seed out West. The Pelicans, meanwhile, will feel that they should’ve had a couple free throws for a chance at OT to get a win they desperately need to keep faint play-in dreams alive.

After the game, Jokic had a pretty cheeky response to not getting called for a foul.