The NBA playoffs set up the biggest stage for the league's stars to make their mark. Nowhere is this more clear this season than with the top two MVP candidates, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, squaring off in the Western Conference's second round.
The pair have been battling it out in the MVP race all season, so it would only make sense that their teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets, would run into each other while chasing the NBA's ultimate goal, the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
Despite the fanfare around the matchup, the MVP is a regular-season award, and both players recorded memorable seasons in their own, unique ways.