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Nikola Jokic Names Knicks Top Title Contenders

Nikola Jokic couldn't stop gushing about the New York Knicks after a showdown at Madison Square Garden.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Jan 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) react during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Jan 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) react during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic believes the New York Knicks are reaching their peak.

Jokic had high praises for the Knicks after he and the Nuggets were on the wrong end of a 122-112 decision at Madison Square Garden. It was the Knicks' fifth consecutive win, one that moved them a season-best 16 games over .500, and kept them within striking distance of a top-two seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.

The MVP conversation mainstay, however, believes that the Knicks might be ready to take on high aspirations.

Nikola Jokic
Jan 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) attempts a three point shot against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

“They’re playing really well. They’re well-coached, they’re pushing the pace and in the halfcourt they know what they’re doing. So they’re a really good team,” Jokic said in the aftermath, per Brian Reynolds of the Associated Press. “I think they are the favorites, not the favorites, but I think top-five candidates for the title.”

The Knicks (32-16) have been generally consistent in the first half of the new decade but this season appears to offer their most realistic championship case in quite some time. Voters for the starting lineup at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game recently expressed their own approval, inserting metropolitan reps Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns into the opening five for next month's exhibition.

Jokic and the Nuggets have been unwilling witnesses to the Knicks' recent accomplishments: Wednesday's win secured a season sweep in the yearly couple between New York and Denver, as the Knicks previously took a 27-point decision at Ball Arena in November. New York has also won five of the past six meetings, which included another sweep during the Nuggets' run to the 2023 NBA Finals.

Forced into early foul trouble and blanketed by Towns, Jokic himself was held to 17 points with six assists and rebounds each which, while respectable, fall far short of the lofty tallies he regularly posts.

Word of Jokic's comments reached the jubilant Knicks locker room, one that refused to put any stock into the three-time MVP's championship forecast lest they lose focus on more current affairs.

“I don’t want to talk about the future, I want to talk about the present,” Towns said with a smirk in video from SNY. “I want to talk about what we can do right now to be the best team we can be, because I have a lot of experience and if you can take care of the present, the future will take care of itself.”

To that point, the Knicks return to action on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Lakers (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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