Nuggets Rest Final Game | Rockets Vs. Wolves | Jokic MVP Eligible
Denver Nuggets rest key starters while Nikola Jokic aims for MVP eligibility. Will health-focused strategy jeopardize their playoff seeding and matchup odds?
Matt Moore breaks down the Nuggets’ controversial decision to sit Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and other starters against the San Antonio Spurs, explaining the logic—and potential risks—behind prioritizing player health. Jokic’s 15-minute requirement for award eligibility sparks debate about NBA rules and the historic impact if he misses All-NBA or MVP ballots. Additional focus includes matchup analysis for the Nuggets versus Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, evaluating defense, physicality, and the likelihood of early exits. Speaker A discusses probabilities, playoff paths, and whether chasing rest over seeding might backfire.
Is prioritizing health the right move for Denver, or could it cost them an easier route through the Western Conference playoffs?
00:00 Jokic’s light 15-minute game
06:05 Rest vs playoff seeding strategy
07:11 Nicola’s wrist and game status
10:54 Spurs’ strategy against Denver
14:35 Discussing Jamal Murray’s playoff potential
16:23 Duran’s development and readiness
20:56 Evaluating Denver’s playoff matchups
23:54 Analyzing second-round playoff matchups
27:16 Breaking down NBA playoff scenarios
29:08 Wrapping up and what’s next
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24 Comments
It would be foolish for joker not to play and get all nba
Spurs are going to sit everyone also and nuggets bench will win again. Nuggs get 3rd seed
This dudes lucky there aren’t many other nuggets shows…
Nuggets want a championship. Meaning they gotta go thru the Thunder. I like the move. 3rd seed is not that important this year.
I don't know how wise it was for Jokic to play Sunday instead of having played vs OKC but I do like them prioritizing health over seeding. If you wanted to maximize the chance of getting to the 3rd round then probably fighting for the 3rd seed was the best choice but if you want to go all the way you're going to need to beat both the Spurs and OKC anyway.
No matter the seeding you'd have a really tough round 2 that'd really wear you out and a hellish round 3 because you'd be really beat up against probably a much more rested contender. A healthy Denver has a chance against anyone so it's what matters the most, any small thing they can do to keep people healthy I'm in favor of.
I think the 4 seed is smarter. Easier round 1 opponent. Get OKC when you're fresher, not after a brutal series vs SAS.
Good job, watching everyday from Bangkok. Let's get that 4th seed, okc 2nd round. Thanos not winning MVP media hate, take a rest. Zivela Srbija.
1)Jokić is averaging 28 points while leading the NBA in rebounds (12.9) and assists (10.9); if that holds, he’ll become the first player in NBA history to simultaneously lead the league in rebounds and assists.
2)Among that same 1,500-minute group, no player has a larger on-off differential (+14.9) than Jokić; SGA (+10.6, 5th) is the only other MVP candidate in that group logging a differential over 10.
3)Nikola Jokić tops the current 2025-26 NBA Box Plus/Minus (BPM) rankings. This advanced metric highlights his unmatched overall impact on the court for the Denver Nuggets.� Top 5 BPM Leaders
Nikola Jokić (DEN) leads at 14.5 BPM, extending his dominance in advanced stats.
�
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) sits second with 11.5 BPM, showcasing elite playmaking and scoring.�
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL) ranks third at 9.5 BPM, driven by his two-way force.�
Luka Dončić (LAL) holds fourth place with 6.7 BPM, blending volume scoring and facilitation.�
Victor Wembanyama (SAS) rounds out the top 5 at 6.5 BPM, marking his rapid rise.�
Nikola Jokic has posted elite Box Plus/Minus (BPM) numbers, including a single-season mark around 14.0 that ranks as the highest among top-20 players in NBA history for that metric.�
This reflects his massive on-court impact for the Denver Nuggets, outpacing even legends like LeBron James in peak seasons.�
Jokic's BPM ContextBPM measures a player's overall contribution per 100 possessions, factoring in offense and defense.
Jokic's 14.0 BPM from an earlier season topped all top-20 players, with comments noting it led single-season records ahead of LeBron's 13.24 in 2008-09.�
Recent 2025-26 data shows him at 15.3 BPM or higher, dominating leaderboards.
The Spurs slander on this pod is crazy, I think they’ve proven to be just as good as OKC
WCF if Nuggets stay in 3rd place.
2nd round exit if they go to 4th place.
MM just doesn’t get it. They handled Friday b/c OKCs agenda was lose, period. Rest everyone, got a win. If LA lost to Suns we lock 3rd seed and Spurs game looks just like it is. LA won though. Here is news for MM and his tortured logic: LA is 99% beating Utah so if we lose we’re 4…too bad OKC, it’s us in round 2. If we play rockets should be 4-2, if greedy 4-1 series win. Less physical with Shangun, great Murray match up, hopefully better rested Gordon, do I need to go on? Wolves Niggs history suggests 6-7 games series with a lot of banging. Then SA? Then OKC? And OKC gets quite an easy ride if we’re 3rd seed. Now get some rest MM.
Tanking is ruining the NBA. How can you respect teams that tank in order to manipulate playoff match ups?? A real championship team is ready to face anybody and win.
This situation has broken Matt's brain. It is not that complicated. OKC benched everyone which opened the possibility to rest. OKC was not trying to win. Get some rest. See how the chips fall. Then decide. Now we can rest again. Except Jokic who needs to play 15 minutes. They have played this well so far.
JOKIC was injured last December first time and you talk like every time he play he's in mortal danger of injuring, ALL OF THIS IS BS, last year they play and won last 4 games and everybody played and after 7 with Clippers 7 with OKC this year only Jamal played whole season| but by this SUPER STUPID LOGIC EVERYONE WILL BE INJURED IN FIRST PLAY OFF GAME. I remember in 23 they beat Minnesota in 5 and Suns in 6 so why wouldn't they beat Minnesota in 5 and Spurs in 6 this year, IF THEY ALL GOING TO GET INUURED WHY WOULD THEY GO TO FINALS AT ALL. THEY can LOSE , LAL LOSE AND THEY ARE 3RD AND THEY JUST LOST FOR. NOTHING
Bad decision by the player led Nuggets. Malone's teams didn't fear the harder and more testing route. The psychological edge you gain by beating the Spurs in back to back games that truly matter and then showing the NBA the Timberwolves series was a fluke 2 years ago means something. If AG gets injured at any point of the playoffs, either way the Nuggets aren't winning anything so why base your game theory around injuries?
I think it's obvious at this point that if they don't win the whole thing they consider it a failure. Losing in the 2nd round vs the conference finals doesn't make a difference, and they think health will benefit them more than seeding possibly can. Makes sense to me.
There is no easy way to the Western Conference Finals. I'd rest Jokic and then march forward.
I think you do whatever worse for okc. I think they want us in the 3rd seed
You said it perfectly why didn’t they rest on Wednesday? They’re only resting on Sunday because they don’t wanna play the wolves stop beating around the bush. There’s no denying it. I’m a huge Laker fan. I wanna play Houston also.
Never have I disagreed with Matt more than I have now.
Regarding the point about Lu Dort, you refuted it yourself. You couldn't name a single player on the Spurs that's known to recklessly endanger their opponents while Lu Dort has done so to Jokic even. Think it is completely fair to feel more safe playing against the spurs than the thunder for that reason alone.
The after that asking about why has the team been playing back to backs and such if health is paramount is unfair. The Nuggets have not had their starting 5 for most of the season due to injuries and need time to gel. They eventually have got something working as shown by the current win streak, performance in the clutch, and good wins against the Spurs and the Blazers. Could they have rested the back to backs? Yes but I don't see any other team doing the same for their players either. Saying health is vital doesn't mean disregard everything for health. I
Saying that the Rockets are objectively better than the Wolves because of seeding is something I disagree with just cause of injuries to their main guy. KD has played nearly every game while Ant has been injured at the beginning and now at the end. Of course the Rockets have injuries to key players, but those players won't be rejoining the team in the playoffs unlike the Wolves injuries.
Rockets just lost to a Wolves team resting quite a lot of players/having limited minutes for Ant. That's a game they wanted to win as well as they could potentially have gotten home court advantage depending on how other games went.
There’s so many assumptions here. What’s to say Wemby doesn’t get hurt? He hasn’t shown to be any less injury prone than AG. Not only that if teams game plan to rough Wemby up and let Fox go off but lock everyone else down? Fox hasn’t shown ANYTHING in the playoffs. Pacers took OKC to 7. This happens every playoffs where a team makes a run. Why not the nuggets?
It's so stupid what coaching stuff is doing, I predicted Denver going to finals if end year with 12-0 and I do still believe that but they want to lose last game, I wish them to get out in 1st round, I don't by this HEALTH stories, if AG Is going to get hurt Again then better trade him while still can because basically he will be Embid
If someone or anyone gets up in Joks face, you better call an ambulance for the guy who tries! Long history of that…
I started laughing when Matt said the Rockets are a harder matchup than the Spurs. The healthy Nuggets are a nightmare matchup for the Rockets. The biggest thing is Jokic can stay in the paint all game on defense & let Sengun take jumpers. Don't even get me started on Amen's shooting. One of the Rockets biggest strengths is their size but the problem for them is the Nuggets can play big too. The only way this is a hard matchup is if Sengun magically gets his jumpshot back overnight. The Spurs will be much more tricky than the Rockets which is why it was funny to me hearing Matt say the Rockets are a tougher matchup.