Two years after he won an NBA title, Nikola Jokic views the surging New York Knicks as a “top-five candidate” to end their 52-year championship drought. The Knicks beat Jokic's Denver Nuggets 122-112 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.

Nikola Jokic went for just 17 points, six rebounds and six assists, low marks for him as Denver fell short at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

The best basketball player on the planet looked average, and the Knicks took advantage. Besieged by early foul trouble and flustered late by the Knicks’ aggressiveness, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the triple-double machine,

SportsLine's model has simulated the Denver Nuggets vs. New York Knicks matchup 10,000 times and revealed its NBA picks for Wednesday

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Coming in as underdogs, the Nuggets are a good bet here, considering they’re No. 7 in overall net rating, whereas the Knicks are No. 5. Denver is an excellent second-half team, showcasing the league’s second-best net rating, 8.8, after halftime, while having a net rating of just -0.6 in the first half.