The Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets may have ended their season series at 2-2, but Luka Doncic admits there's a huge gap between the Mavs and the Nikola Jokic-led Nuggets.

Speaking to reporters after the Mavs' 118-109 loss to the Nuggets on Wednesday, Doncic shared that Denver will always be the favorite over Dallas–or any other team for that matter–considering that they have two-time MVP and an unstoppable beast in Jokic.

“I think there's a lot of great teams, but obviously, with a guy like Jokic they're probably the favorite. It's so hard to play against him. So when you have a guy like Jokic on your team, you’re the favorite, always,” Doncic said, per Brad Townsend of Dallas Morning News.

While it might be frustrating to hear for Dallas fans, Nikola Jokic certainly deserves that praise and recognition from Luka Doncic. The Nuggets big man exploded for a triple-double of 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over the Mavs, showing everyone why he is considered the favorite to win the MVP this 2022-23–which would be his third straight.

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The Nuggets are also riding a three-game winning streak and possess the best record in the West and the second-best in the NBA (only behind the Boston Celtics).

For their part, the Mavs are 10.5 games behind the Nuggets at no. 7 in the West. There should be some sense of urgency for the team now that they are on a three-game skid, though the good things is Luka is not losing his confidence about the team.

For now, Doncic and the Mavs can really only focus on themselves as they try to get out of their rut. Hopefully, the All-Star break will help them get healthy and prepare for the final stretch of the season.