Nikola Jokic appears to be on track to win his third straight Most Valuable Player award – an incredible feat only the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Larry Bird have achieved through the course of NBA history. And on Sunday night against the revamped Los Angeles Clippers, Jokic showed once again how worthy he is of earning such acclaim.

In a 134-124 overtime victory for the Denver Nuggets, Jokic dropped 40 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists to notch his 23rd triple double of the season. The Nuggets, as a result, remain unbeaten in games where The Joker notches double-digits in the aforementioned counting stats.

Nonetheless, as well as Nikola Jokic may have played, some pundits, such as Kendrick Perkins, view this kind of dominance as something of a moot point if the Nuggets star fails to lead his team deep into the postseason. Posting on his official Twitter account, Perkins wrote that anything less than a Finals appearance for the Nuggets would be a failure on the Serbian superstar's part despite acknowledging his greatness.

“Jokic took that s–t over in Great Fashion tonight!!!! I can’t lie that was one hell of performance… but we’ve seen this from him time and time again. He has ZERO excuses not to take THIS Nuggets team to the Finals!!! Carry the hell on…” Perkins wrote.

There might not be a better time for Nikola Jokic to lead the Nuggets to its first NBA Finals appearance. (They made the ABA Finals in 1976, but they haven't progressed as deep ever since.) The Nuggets have the best offense in the NBA and a healthy +4.2 net rating which ranks third in the league at the moment.

Moreover, there doesn't appear to be any clear-cut favorites to win the title. Thus, Jokic and the Nuggets should do very well in capitalizing on what seems to be such a great opportunity to at least make the NBA Finals. Kendrick Perkins may be a purveyor of hot takes, but he might not be too off-the-mark in this respect.