In a battle of NBA MVP candidates, it was Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum who came out on top Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
The Celtics defeated the Denver Nuggets 110-103 on Sunday for their seventh win in the last 10 games.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who has won three of the last four league MVP awards and could earn a fourth this season, scored 20 points with 14 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. He did all he could, but it wasn't enough for the Nuggets to complete a comeback.
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After the game, Jokic was asked for his opinion of Tatum and how the Celtics star is playing right now.
"I think he's playing really good, they have a really good system there and he's really driving that system," Jokic told reporters, per CLNS's Bobby Manning.
"He's shooting the ball really well, he can do multiple things on the floor. He led them last year to the championship, so I think he's a superstar."
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Tatum nearly had a triple-double Sunday with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
He and Jokic are the only two players in the league who lead their respective teams in total points, rebounds and assists this season. Tatum is averaging 26.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Jokic is actually averaging a triple-double with 28.9 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game.
It's going to be difficult for Tatum to win his first ever MVP award this season. Jokic and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the consensus top two candidates, and everyone else is a tier or two below them.
But that shouldn't take away from how well Tatum has played this season on both ends of the court. The improvements he's made as a playmaker, as an elite wing defender and as a leader have been awfully impressive. And he's still scoring just under 30 points per game.
Even if Tatum doesn't win league MVP, he could still take home a different award by the end of June -- NBA Finals MVP. If the Celtics win back-to-back championships, you have to like Tatum's chances of securing the Bill Russell Finals MVP Trophy.