Jalen Brunson and Nikola Jokic have been named the NBA's Players of the Week for Week 25.

Brunson averaged 38.5 points and 7.5 assists as the New York Knicks went 4-0.

Jokic averaged 26.5 points and 11.5 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets went 3-1.

The Western Conference seeds are set following the end of regular season on Sunday. The first round begins on Saturday, April 20th.

First Round Matchups

• No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. No. 8 (Pelicans, Lakers, Kings or Warriors)

• No. 2 Denver Nuggets vs. No. 7 (Pelicans or Lakers)

• No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves vs. No. 6 Phoenix Suns

• No. 4 LA Clippers vs. No. 5 Dallas Mavericks

Play-In

• No. 7 New Orleans Pelicans vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Lakers

• No. 9 Sacramento Kings vs. No. 10 Golden State Warriors

Wednesday night's matchup between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets averaged 1.57 million viewers on ESPN.

The number represented the largest sports audience of the day.

The lead-in game between the Mavs and Heat averaged 1.23 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN2.

Thursday night's matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers averaged 1.47 million viewers across TNT and truTV, up from last year's Nuggets-Suns matchup (1.1 million viewers).

The Kings and Knicks lead into the game with 1.13 million viewers.

The NIT title matchup between Seton Hall and Indiana State averaged 1.41 million viewers on ESPN.

The Charlotte Hornets have received permission to interview multiple current assistant coaches for their head coaching vacancy. The Hornets are looking for a replacement at head coach for Steve Clifford. 

• David Adelman, Denver Nuggets

• Jordi Fernandez, Sacramento Kings

• Charles Lee, Boston Celtics

• Kevin Young, Phoenix Suns

Nikola Jokic has emerged as the clear favorite to win the 23-24 NBA Most Valuable Player award following the publication of ESPN's latest straw poll.

Jokic received 85 out of 100 first place votes to receive 953 total points ahead of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 10 first place votes and 626 total points.

Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo rank third and fourth in what has become a very clear top-4. Embiid was the early favorite in ESPN's first straw poll published in December, but he subsequently missed a significant portion of the season due to a meniscus injury.

Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Kawhi Leonard, Domantas Sabonis and Jaylen Brown round out the top-10.

Jokic previously won the award in 2021 and 2022, while finishing second behind Joel Embiid in 2023. Embiid was the early favorite in ESPN's first straw poll conducted in December. Jokic had a more narrow lead over Gilgeous-Alexander in the previous ESPN poll in February.

According to the latest odds, Jokic is a -649 favorite to win the award ahead of Doncic at +500 and Gilgeous-Alexander at +2000.

Jamal Murray missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle and swollen right knee on Friday night.

"He's just not ready to go out there and compete at the level that we need him to," said Michael Malone.

Malone hinted that Murray would not be healthy in time for the Nuggets' game on Sunday.

Malone added that he expects Murray to return before the playoffs. 

Wednesday night's matchup between the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets averaged 1.44 million viewers on ESPN.

That number is down 2% from last year's equivalent window. 

The Clippers and Sixers game earlier in the night averaged 1.23 million viewers.

Tuesday night's matchup between the Lakers and Bucks averaged 1.43 million viewers on TNT.

Host Danny Leroux and Keith Smith of Spotrac discuss the NBA season so far.

They discuss the Celtics’ high-profile week, how the second apron will shape the next few seasons, teambuilding and much more.

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed. 

Thursday night's matchup between the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets averaged 1.25 million viewers on TNT.

The number is down 1% from last year's Kings-Knicks game in the equivalent window.

TNT's coverage was blacked out in Boston and exclusive in Denver.

The Heat-Mavericks game earlier in the night averaged 1.15 million viewers, down 16% from last year's Warriors-Grizzlies matchup.