Nikola Jokic deserves better.
Tuesday night should have been another chapter in his legendary theology. Instead, it called for an apology.
In the wake of a 112-105 loss, creating a must-win Game 6 on Thursday at Ball Arena, there were many fingers to point, but one shameful truth.
The Nuggets let Jokic down. Again.
The final 200 seconds incorporated all the themes of this season. The principal one: Denver was once again painfully short one more legitimate player. That is what has made the past seven months so frustrating, even when sprinkled with moments of brilliance by the supporting cast.
Knowing he had to play better after the worst three-game shooting stretch of his career, Jokic delivered, scoring 44 points. The image that we should be talking about today is the three-time MVP spinning to his right, jumping off one foot and sinking a 27-footer over Chet Holmgren to knot the score at 103.
Instead, we are left to explain how jump shots become the equivalent of bumper cars bouncing off the rim.
“When we had the game in our hands like that,” guard Jamal Murray said, “we just let it slip away over the course of a minute or two.”
When the Nuggets lose like this, they marvel at Jokic, explain they are frustrated and then nothing changes. They have to know what is obvious to the rest of us. Jokic needs help, and there is nothing they can do about it. At least not consistently.
Tuesday only reinforced the notion that Jokic is dominant, and the Nuggets are incapable of restoring their place as NBA champions.
The blame lands on Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun and, for the first time, interim coach David Adelman.
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It just doesn’t turn up on demand like it used to in 2023. And that’s what it takes, one of the Other Guys to have Jokic’s back. Three of the team’s most important pieces have been punchless in the fourth quarter of the past two games, both losses.
Michael Porter Jr., a magnet for fans’ scorn because of his maddening inconsistency, has zero points. Zilch.
Christian Braun has no points. Living La Nada Loca.
Murray has eight points. That is not enough.
The trio is a combined 3 for 18 from the floor and 0 for 11 from 3-point range in the past two fourth quarters when Denver has been outscored 63-37.
Gordon has provided an unexpected boost late in games, but he is not capable of camouflaging this type of blemish.
On many contending teams, it would not matter because the star would take over. With this group, Jokic’s unselfishness becomes his curse.
He is so good, he should take almost every shot in the two-man game with Murray. But instead, he gets the ball in the paint, defenders surround him and he passes to the open man.
On back-to-back possessions, the recipient was Porter. He bricked a 3, and Jalen Williams opened a 106-103 lead with a 23-footer. MPJ then airballed another 3, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drained a 26-footer. At 109-103, it was over. The Nuggets were done.
They shot 5 for 19 in the fourth. Jokic was 4 for 6, and the rest of the Nuggets went 1 for 13. Jokic was not upset, saying, “I think we had the open looks, we just didn’t score in those moments.”
Jokic is the greatest Nuggets player ever. And it would be cool if sometimes he screamed, “YOLO!”, pump faked open teammates and shot 10 straight possessions.
In the end, that is not him. Jokic trusts his guys and his new coach. But Adelman failed him, too.
He predicted that Jokic would snap out of his slump, but when he was simmering down the stretch, why not run plays through him to draw contact? Volley passes back and forth until Jokic turns his shoulder into Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein. Jokic, after all, was 5 for 5 from the free-throw line.
Adelman has preached to his players that they have to take open shots. But that player should not have been Porter with under two minutes left. He was the evil of two lessers. Porter is 2 for 14 over the past two games. Russell Westbrook, whose argument to play over Porter centers on defense, is 3 for 19.
There are those who want Julian Strawther, who is a liability defensively, and Peyton Watson, who is a liability offensively, to get more run. That would make sense in October, but not May.
The Nuggets are stuck. They cannot fix the airplane while it is flying (Thanks, Calvin Booth and ownership). When it lands this offseason, adding another piece or two, even if it means trading Porter or Gordon, must be strongly considered.
“A lot of the reason we lost (the last two games) is because I am not helping,” Porter said. “I haven’t been contributing in any way.”
Porter is right. And that is what is wrong with the Nuggets. As constructed, they are letting Jokic down, and if it happens again Thursday, they will be out.
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