The Denver Nuggets fell to the Boston Celtics by a score of 108-95 on Friday night, but one positive that the Nuggets can take from the defeat was the performance of big man Nikola Jokic, who dropped a season-high 30 points. For a guy who has been struggling all season, this was a nice outing, and head coach Michael Malone agreed:
“You can take small victories out of losses. The way Nikola played was a victory for us,” said Malone, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic.
Malone added that Jokic was “looking to score first and score second.”
So, basically, Malone liked Jokic's aggressiveness.
Jokic made 13 of his 21 field goals on the night, going 1-of-5 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. He added 10 rebounds, four assists and a couple of blocks.
This comes after a dreadful performance in a Thursday night win over the New York Knicks in which he finished with just six points off 3-of-7 shooting.
Not only that, but Jokic had logged single-digit point totals in four of his five preceding games before finally busting out for 30 against the Celtics.
On the season overall, Jokic is averaging 15.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals over 30.9 minutes per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, 22.1 percent from long distance and 78.8 percent from the charity stripe.
The 24-year-old was considered a darkhorse MVP candidate by some entering the 2019-20 campaign after making his first All-Star appearance last season, but he has certainly not played the part thus far.
Denver is 14-6 on the year and will battle the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
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