Nuggets superstar took the blame for what transpired in Sunday’s agonizing Game 7 loss even though it wasn’t on him.
Before everyone’s eyes and across 14 revealing playoff games, Jokic played like an emerging force and a future MVP candidate. His numbers validated what many have known; Jokic is the unique player that has the capability of raising a franchise’s ceiling.
Denver’s Game 7 loss to Portland was about missed 3-pointers, missed free throws and missed defensive rebounds. Most of those shortcomings can’t be pinned on him.
“They look at me as a leader, they look at me as their best player,” Jokic said. “I feel responsible. I missed a lot of other shots, and I’m supposed to make some of those.”
His playoff numbers, where he nearly averaged a triple-double in almost 40 minutes per game, spoke volumes of his ability to embrace any stage. And in the aftermath of Sunday’s 100-96 loss in the Western Conference semifinals, it was Jokic who wore the defeat on his sleeve.
“I got Nikola Jokic in there taking blame for the loss,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, trying to hold back his emotions. “Itap not his fault. That was a group effort. I think the cumulative effect of 14 playoff games, and us asking him to do as much as we asked him to do, finally took its toll on him tonight.”
Jokic can occasionally be so nonchalant about his success or the heights this Nuggets team enjoyed, itap fair to ask how much these moments matter to him. For the future of where the Nuggets want to go, though, it was revealing to hear how much Sunday’s loss stung.
“I knew it would be a time when this would come for him,” Nuggets veteran told The Denver Post. “When your role changes and you become that guy, you’re almost forced to care. Not saying that he never did, but now itap just, itap more. He knows we come and go as he goes.”
Jokic scored 29 points on 11 of 26 shooting, snagged 13 rebounds and registered just two assists. It was by far his lowest assist total of any game in the postseason. The Nuggets will head into an offseason lamenting the fact that they were just 2 of 19 from 3-point range and shot just 37 percent from the field. But outside of Jokic, (15 points) was the only Nugget who provided any consistent scoring threat in Game 7. The lack of assists underscored the dozens of missed shots from his teammates.
Malone was particularly proud of the fact that Jokic, though unwarranted, accepted fault for Sunday’s outcome.
“That is what I love,” Malone said. “For him to be as emotional and as upset as he was speaks to him truly caring. And he knows that we ask a lot of him, and he’s just upset because he didn’t think he did enough for us to win the game. I love the fact that he’s not afraid of the pressure to put this loss on him even though we know itap not all on him. We win together and lose together.”
As for next season, when expectations will be raised and an even more pronounced target will be on Jokic’s back, he issued a challenge to his teammates.
“I’m just asking for the guys who come back next year to come back better and prepared to do bigger things,” Jokic said.
The Nuggets advanced further in the playoffs than most assumed they would. They survived a nasty rash of injuries, flirted with the No. 1 seed all season, unlocked a deadly pick-and-roll combo between Jokic and , and started to tap potential that Malone and the Nuggets’ front office once saw possible.
The future, after Sunday’s humbling loss, is beyond bright. If last year’s Game 82 spurred them to the verge of the Conference Finals, perhaps this sour taste yields even more uncharted territory next season.
“Tonightap loss is going to motivate us,” Malone said. “Itap going to motivate not just Jamal Murray, because he was 4-of-18, but we have now tasted what itap like to win in the playoffs. We have tasted how close we were to get to the Western Conference finals. So we will use that to become a better team. I look forward to the challenge.”
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