The Nuggets did the unthinkable and squandered a historic evening for Nikola Jokic, after shedding 122-113 to the Wizards – who hadn’t received in 16 video games earlier than then.
Jokic was doing completely all the things he may to stop the loss, after posting 56 factors, 16 rebounds, eight assists and one steal on 60 p.c from three-point vary, however his teammates let him down.
Solely three of Jokic’s teammates managed to attain in double digits and all Denver gamers bar Jokic mixed to shoot 24-56 with ten turnovers.
After the sport, Jokic was requested what the he must see from the Nuggets the subsequent few video games.
“A response. In my nation, the place I’m coming from, after this type of stretch you’re gonna get a paycheck that could be a little bit lower than you’re price. So perhaps that’s what we have to do. Possibly a bit of motivation that approach.” (by way of Bennett Durando)
The Serbian famous person additionally advised one other potential wake-up name for his crew.
“What’s the title of it? Being benched? Being on the bench, I believe that’s actually good motivation, too,” he mentioned.
Within the crew’s protection, there wasn’t too many strong choices to show to on offense, as a result of Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Aaron Gordon (calf) had been each out.
The 2023 champions at the moment are ninth seed within the west, with a .524 win proportion and an 11-10 document, a far cry from seasons earlier than after they had been persistently high three within the West for majority of the season.
“I’m doing a extremely poor job with this crew. For us to be 11-10 at this level, and shedding to a crew that (in) the final 5 video games is averaging 100 factors a recreation — they put up 122 on us — I’m embarrassed by that,” Denver head coach Michael Malone mentioned after the sport.
“We’ve movie periods the place you maintain guys accountable, you deal with the problems, and so they maintain being repeated. That’s the place I take blame for (being) 11-10; I’ve finished a poor job as a coach getting ready this crew to win and go on the market and execute. I’ve no drawback proudly owning that.”
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