MVP? 7-foot-2 Magic? Nikola Jokic continues to prove that all the praise is warranted

Five nuggets for the five 3s Malik Beasley hit in a 115-108 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

1. Before the game, Knicks coach David Fizdale called him a “7-foot-2 Magic Johnson.” After the game, Pepsi Center fans who braved the cold serenaded him with MVP chants. None of that praise seemed outlandish if you watched watched what Nikola Jokic did in between all of it (that is unless you Googled his actual height). Scoring? Jokic went for 19 and made half his shots. Passing? Denver’s center who grew up playing point guard dished out dime after dime, finishing with 15 assists Rebounding? The big Serbian corralled 14 boards.

Jokic was so good, his post-game interview on the court got drowned out by cries of “M-V-P! M-V-P!”

“You can’t not hear that,” Jokic said. “I like it. I like them loud. I really appreciate it. But let’s just go step by step.”

The next step?

“Playoffs. Finals,” Jokic said.

2. There’s never been a big man who distributes like Jokic. Ever. He grabs the rebound, leads the break and spoon feeds teammates easy looks.

He throws perfectly placed alley oops.

He catches the ball at his feet and whips one-handed darts 20 feet.

Jokic doled out six assists in the first quarter. He had 10 helpers by halftime. He’s averaging 7.6 assists this season, the ninth-most in the NBA. He might be the best passer in basketball regardless of position.

“This guy’s running fast breaks, man,” Fizdale said. “He’s as good a passer as any guard in this league.”

3. Jokic stamped out any lingering hopes the Knicks were clinging to with his final assist of the night. Jokic caught the ball in the middle of the floor and turned Tim Hardaway Jr. into an ice sculpture by looking left and firing a pass under the hoop.

“I knew that was coming to me,” Malik Beasley said. “I knew he was going to look away. I had a feeling he was going to pass me.”

4. Beasley was pretty good himself, too. The third-year shooting guard connected on five 3-pointers en route to a team-high 23 points. This summer, Beasley focused on maintaining his balance when he went up for a shot. Too often, film showed, he was fading forward or backward. Look at how straight up and down he goes here.

“I’m making sure I’m not jumping forward (or) jumping straight back,” Beasley said. “I’m staying straight up and holding my follow through. That’s the main thing now that I’m working on.”

Beasley is shooting 40.6 from deep. He’s become a mainstay in the rotation after receiving inconsistent playing minutes his first two years in the league. Paul Millsap, who’s known Beasley since he was a teenager from his Atlanta days, is watching the 22-year-old grow up right before his eyes.

“He had the skills and the talent,” Millsap said. “A lot of times it’s always going to be, ‘Do these young guys have the mind and mentality to get better and withstand the season?’ He’s playing well. He’s very comfortable right now.”

5. Reinforcements are trickling in. Gary Harris played for the first time since injuring his right hip Dec. 3. Paul Millsap, who missed eight games last month with a broken big toe, was also back in action for a second straight game. Harris — 1 for 5 in 20 minutes — understandably looked rusty. Millsap chipped in with 16 points. He could’ve reached the 20s if he hit his free throws.

“I felt really good,” Millsap said. “I felt like I was in a really good rhythm. Ehhh, I take that back. I missed six free throws.”

Part of the challenge Millsap and Harris will face in the coming weeks is helping Denver get back on track defensively. The Nuggets are allowing 115.1 points per 100 possessions in their last six games — the fifth-highest mark in basketball in that stretch. They got beat up on the boards and allowed the Knicks to get loose from behind the 3-point line before finally hunkering down in the fourth quarter.

“I thought for the first three quarters I didn’t really like our team a whole lot,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Our defense, the attention to detail, lack of communication. Just a lot of defensive breakdowns that were driving me crazy a little bit.”

The Nuggets, who’ve slipped to eighth in overall defensive rating, are in danger of falling out of the top 10 if they don’t correct their issues. They’ve won three in a row, but their efforts against Phoenix and New York weren’t exactly inspiring.

“We got stops when we needed to,” Harris said. “We didn’t play the best defensively or offensively throughout the whole game, but we found a way to get the win, and that’s all that matters.”