Denver Nuggets

© Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS Kevin Durant (35) of the Phoenix Suns, left, and Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets fight for the control of the ball during the 1st half of the western conference semifinal game 5 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Friday, May 9, 2023.

PHOENIX — As Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic shared an embrace after their second-round playoff series came to an end in Game 6, Durant whispered in the Denver center’s ear.

Jokic didn’t want to share what Durant told him, but the Phoenix star had high praise for Jokic after the game — an emphatic 125-100 Nuggets win to clinch the series.

“Jokic is an all-time great,” Durant said. “He’s going to go down as one of the all-time great centers to ever touch a basketball.”

Durant, asked if he was surprised by Jokic’s dominance over the course of a best-of-seven series, said he “wasn’t surprised at all” and that “I always knew how great he was.”

Jokic finished the series with three triple-doubles, including 32 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the Game 6 close-out win.

“It just means a lot from someone who — the guy is amazing,” Jokic said. “He’s bringing so much attention (from our defense). Just a regular post-up or regular dribble, we were all looking at him. So when someone like that and someone who won it, who was an MVP and scoring champion, best scorer in the NBA says something like that, it means a lot.”

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