SAN ANTONIO — distilled his basketball philosophy into one succinct sentence late Wednesday night.
“When itap simple then itap no confusion,” Jokic said after the Nuggets fell 111-103 to the , dropping their record to 21-11. The teams will face off once again Friday in Denver.
Jokic didn’t play his best game — four points, 10 assists, four rebounds — but after logging six straight double-doubles in December followed by a frustrated ejection vs. the Clippers in Denver’s last game, perhaps the Nuggets’ star was due for a sub-par night. With three starters already out and struggling from the field, Jokic’s five shots seemed like too few attempts for someone beginning to generate mild MVP chatter. But Jokic and Nuggets coach Michael Malone each defended the star’s aggression.
“The (Spurs) were coming,” Jokic said. “When I had two on me I just threw the ball to the other guy. I think I played not great, but I played good.”
The Spurs tossed multiple defenders in Jokic’s direction, content to let (27 points on six 3-pointers) and (22 points on 8-for-19 shooting) try to beat them. And they nearly did, storming back from a huge fourth-quarter deficit even without Jokic hunting for shots.
“He’s a guy that I trust,” Malone said. “He’s gotta understand how he’s being played. Thatap probably the biggest frustration tonight. Every time he put the ball down, they were coming. The turnovers (five), thatap whatap probably more frustrating than the lack of shooting. If he thinks he’s open, he’s gonna shoot it. If he doesn’t think itap open then he’s gonna make a play for somebody else.”
Malone on Thursday said he’s expecting a similar defensive approach from the Spurs but that the Nuggets needed Jokic to find his shots before being swallowed by San Antonio’s heavy pressure.
Jokic’s selfless philosophy — shoot if you’re open, pass if you’re not — was reflected in a conversation he had with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in Belgrade.
“I was talking to him a little bit more,” Jokic said. “He’s the one who makes basketball really simple. When someone like that (compliments) you, it means a lot just because someone appreciated what you’re doing, someone who knows basketball. I appreciate it a lot. I don’t need to speak about him. He’s probably the best coach in the world right now.”
With starters , and all injured, the Nuggets weren’t going to win when Jokic and Murray combined to shoot just 5-of-24 from the field. Friday offers an opportunity for redemption, and point guard is confident in a Jokic rebound.
“You can’t shoot it when you know you’re getting trapped as soon as you touch it,” Morris said. “Thatap the thing with being like a big-time all-star. … Nikola will be ready to go. He knows how they’re going to play him next game. We should be fine.”
In contrast, the Spurs got stellar performances from potential all-stars LaMarcus Aldridge (27 points) and DeMar DeRozan (30). The Nuggets can expect a heavy dose of those two — Aldridge from the inside, DeRozan from the midrange — in their next meeting.
“Yeah, I think itap kind of like a playoff game,” Hernangomez said of the back-to-back scenario. “Try to learn from today, watch the film, watch what everybody did wrong and try to learn from that.”
, a spot starter who has emerged as a defensive specialist in the wake of all the injuries, looked forward to running it back against the Spurs and DeRozan.
“As a competitor, as a basketball player, you always want to try to even the score,” Craig said. “They got one up on us tonight, so we’re gonna try to get one up on them back in Denver.”
