Another lost match for Denver in the fight against direct competitors for a better playoff position in the West. This time, Minnesota was too big a mouthful for the limp Nuggets, who fall whenever it gets difficult and whenever the opponent plays a slightly stronger defense. In the end, it was 108-117 for the guests, for the better team.
As this season progresses, it is becoming clear that no matter how Jokić plays—and today he played brilliantly—it is no guarantee that Denver will win the game. The Serbian center scored 35 points (26-15 shooting, 4-1 three-pointers), grabbed 13 rebounds, and was missing a 10th assist to complete a triple-double.
But it was in vain that Nikola distributed passes that no one was there to capitalize on. The turnaround, after a nine-point Nuggets lead in the first quarter (31-22), happened in the second when Jokić left the game and Minnesota made a run and won it with a convincing advantage (36-19).
From there, everything came down to unsuccessful attempts by the hosts to catch up to the guests’ lead, but their hope was extinguished approximately 5 minutes before the end, when Minnesota returned to an 11-point lead through a Naz Reid run.
It is obvious that this team needs shock therapy, and it seems that the most purposeful solution would be a coaching change, as it is evident that David Adelman is not a coach up to the task of fighting for an NBA title.
Besides Jokić, those above average in Denver were Murray with 25 (4 ast, 5 reb), Hardaway with 17, and Christian Braun with 15. The rest – a catastrophe!
In Minnesota, as many as six players “stepped up” and scored over 10 points, and the most efficient were Edwards with 21 (6 ast, 3 reb) and McDaniels with 20.
With a 37-24 record, Denver has now fallen from 4th to 5th position in the Conference and swapped places with Minnesota (38-23).
Jokić and the crew play their next game tomorrow in Utah.
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