Nikola Jokic rolled up in the Joker’s suit, then performed like a court jester.
It all seemed like a bad joke, that Denver’s season would wilt away not for the usual reasons, but on account of its dependable superstar and the sudden disappearance of his immaculate touch. Jokic wasn’t the conniving villain implied by his pregame wardrobe. This was not Joker’s revenge game against the system. This was his rare turn to play the fool.
But the Nuggets refused to allow his box score to be a punchline. They buoyed Jokic, bought him just enough time until he could have the last laugh at his own expense. The postgame wit was predictably self-deprecating.
“Basically,” Jokic said, “I was the worst player on the court today.”
If he’s to be taken at his word — no class clown is — then the Nuggets won Game 3 in spite of their MVP. And they’re somehow up 2-1 in a playoff series they have no business winning, a series in which Jokic has been contained to a running total of 18 assists and 21 turnovers and one premature disqualification.
He fouled out before the end of the third quarter in Game 2, flustered by the whistle as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder ran him out of their gym. Denver lost by 43. Back home, Jokic arrived to Game 3 in a purple suit punctuated by a green vest — a statement outfit that could only be pulled off by Gotham’s clown prince of crime himself.
Alas, he didn’t put on a show worthy of his runway garb. His 6-for-23 shooting clip in regulation included a missed opportunity to win at the buzzer and a jarring 0-for-10 showing from 3-point range.
“I mean, I don’t know what they are doing,” he said when asked about the Thunder’s defense. “Because if I knew, probably I’m not gonna have those kinds of mistakes. So I need to figure out what they’re doing.”
Jokic isn’t the type to need his coach to defend him in the media — his psyche is generally impervious to outside criticism — but Nuggets interim coach David Adelman did want to add some context to the notion that Jokic was a hindrance Friday.
“I mean, 20, 16 and six. Just an awful NBA night,” a sarcastic Adelman said. “… The stat sheet always says something, but sometimes it says nothing at the same time. The guy shoots 45% from three. He had an off night. If we would’ve lost this game, I would’ve walked in here, and you would’ve said, ‘Why is he shooting so many 3s?’ I’d have said, ‘He shoots 45% from three.’ So he’s gonna shoot 3s. The paint is packed.”
That isn’t about to change, either. Oklahoma City can shrink better than any team in the league and still recover to the perimeter in mostly punctual fashion. It’s potent stuff, a defense that has its cake and eats it, too. Sometimes when pacing himself in a long series, Jokic’s best read is simply to pick-and-pop, not pick-and-roll; to spot up rather than post up.
“The guys were lifting me up,” he said. “… Actually, I’m kind of glad at myself that I still keep shooting even if the ball was not going in.”
The problem was that it wasn’t anywhere close. Jokic typically gives himself a chance at earning the shooter’s bounce even when he’s a smidge inaccurate. These were clunkers. With about seven minutes to play and Denver trailing 93-92, he missed wide right on a 3-pointer from the top of the key, where he’s usually comfortable.
In 14 career games with 10 or more 3-point attempts before Friday, he had made at least two of them every time. This was certifiably his worst night ever as a perimeter threat.
The depth-challenged Nuggets knocked off a 68-win opponent anyway, with timely defense against Gilgeous-Alexander and clutch shot-making from Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon. They even resumed their game of Playoff Rotation Russian Roulette, with Zeke Nnaji taking his turn as the eighth man. Anything to provide the other seven with a little wiggle room to pace themselves. This series demands it.
“We see (Jokic) fighting through all the no-calls, through all the shots that go in and out, how frustrating that all can be, but he’s still fighting, giving his all,” Nnaji told The Denver Post. “So that motivates us to play even harder and fight for him just as much.”
This has more or less been an organizational refrain for multiple years now, from team president Josh Kroenke all the way down to the end of the bench. Everything the Nuggets do is in service of Jokic, every decision an act of stewardship of his talent. Veneration has almost developed into an unhealthy burden as much as an inspiring creed. The front office owes it to Jokic to acquire a certain player. The roster owes it to him to consistently deliver. Anything less is failing him.
The self-applied pressure is heavy. The reality is that Jokic remains as mortal as every other individual working at Ball Arena. He’s capable of failing the Nuggets, too. In a bizarre Game 3, he did, and the Nuggets overcame it so that he could laugh about it — signifying a major step forward in their maturity as a team, rather than merely a player and his supporting cast.
“I’m sure he’s frustrated,” Adelman said. “When you’re that efficient — maybe arguably one of the most efficient players to ever play any sport — yeah, I get it. I get why he’s frustrated. But Game 4 is gonna come, and he’s gonna touch it a million times. Hope he shoots it all the time. … And our team right now, they’re picking each other up man by man.”
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