Who Was the Last NBA MVP to Get Swept in Playoffs?
By Peter Dewey
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are in some dangerous territory on Sunday, as they are on the verge of being swept by the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.
Jokic, the league’s MVP this season, hasn’t been as dominant in this round as he was against the Portland Trail Blazers, and Denver has suffered because of it.
Already without Jamal Murray, Denver needed a near perfect series from Joki, but Deandre Ayton and the Suns have made life tough on the league’s MVP. Jokic is still averaging 26.0 points per game in the series, but he hasn’t been as efficient (46.4 percent from the field) as he was during the regular season when he shot 56.6 percent from the field.
Ayton’s defense has been a big reason why Jokic is shooting 10 percent worse from the field, but the league MVP is looking to avoid falling into some no-so-great NBA history in Game 4.
With a loss, Jokic would become just the second MVP in league history to be swept in a playoff series.
The other? Magic Johnson for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1989 NBA Finals.
Johnson hurt his hamstring in Game 2 of the NBA Finals that year, and he played just five minutes in Game 3 before missing Game 4.
Jokic and Nuggets down 3-0 to Suns.
— John Ewing (@johnewing) June 12, 2021
Who was the last NBA MVP to be swept in the playoffs?
Answer: Magic Johnson
Magic & Lakers lost 4-0 to Pistons in 1989 NBA Finals.
*Magic hurt hamstring early Game 2, barely played Game 3
Jokic doesn’t want to find himself in that category, but the Suns have playoff history on their side. Phoenix is a three-point road favorite on WynnBET, and recent history shows us that road favorites have dominated in the NBA playoffs.
This season, road favorites are 11-3 against the spread, and the trend dates all the way back to 2017 with an impressive edge to those teams.
Road favorites in #NBA Playoffs are a 71.4% ATS moneymaker since 2017, going 49-19-2 ATS (omitting 2020 neutral-court bubble).
— Jason Logan (@CoversJLo) June 13, 2021
2021: 11-3 ATS
2019: 8-6-1 ATS
2018: 12-7 ATS
2017: 18-3-1 ATS
Road faves 151-130-7 ATS since 2004 (54%)
Nets (-2) and Suns (-3.5) road chalk today. pic.twitter.com/S0eVGF1Ym1
That’s a bad sign for Jokic and the Nuggets, but maybe the MVP can turn in a monster performance to help save Denver’s season.
WynnBET has a couple of Jokic’s player props set as follows for tonight’s game:
Points: 28.5 (Over -120 | Under +100)
Assists: 7.5 (Over -115 | Under -116)
I’d expect the MVP to go over his point projection, but he will need to be efficient (and get some help from his teammates) for Denver to pull off the upset.