OKC Thunder: MVP Showdown to Go the Distance

As the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, the series will be taken back home to Paycom Center for a monumental, NBA Finals-caliber Game 7.

This series has certainly been a dog fight, with nearly every game coming down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Leaving the heavy hitters to clash in late-game situations, each team has traded blows and has now led to this ultimate contest on Sunday afternoon.

Two of these teams' primary heavy hitters, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had scrapped it out for the entirety of the regular season in a different battle—the fight for the NBA's Most Valuable Player award. Neither of these players necessarily have sought this award out, but their pursuit in being the best possible talents for their respective teams have certainly positioned themselves to be potential recipients of this award.

Jokic, a three-time winner of the MVP award, has been neck-and-neck with Gilgeous-Alexander in this regard, having his most impressive season from a statistical standpoint. In the regular season, Jokic posted 29.6 points per game on 57.6% shooting with 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists, averaging a triple double while being top three in the league in each of those categories.

For Gilgeous-Alexander, he'd had a historical season with the West-leading, 68-win Thunder, and averaged a league-leading 32.7 points per game with 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds along with nearly two steals. All of this occurred while leading Oklahoma City to one of the best net ratings in NBA history, and forging a 12.9 point differential to mark the best margin of all time in a regular season.

These two impressive seasons have led to this moment in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, and could now serve as an honorary game for who "deserves" the award.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the presumed winner for this season, is averaging 28.8 points on 51.3% shooting, seven assists and seven rebounds per game in this series. Jokic has put up 29.8 points on 47.3% shooting with 5.7 assists and 14.7 rebounds per game, respectively.

These performances have led each of their teams, paving the way for the Nuggets and Thunder to capture three wins apiece up to this point.

On Sunday, Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander will have one final bout for this season, having massive implications on the outcome of this playoffs and the eventual NBA Finals champion.