The Denver Nuggets were dominated by the Philadelphia 76ers at home on Thursday night which clearly frustrated MVP Nikola Jokic. The Joker wasn't in a joking mood as the shorthanded Sixers were clearly the better team and ended up handing the Nuggets just their second home loss this season.
With the game out of reach late in the fourth, Jokic surprisingly decided to hit the showers early which he clarified immediately after the game. Apparently, he just wanted to make sure head coach Michael Malone was in a good place after Malone was ejected after charging onto the court in the third quarter.
“I just wanted to check if coach was okay,” Jokic said (via Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports).
Clearly, it was a very frustrating night for the Nuggets and it's good that Jokic tried to shrug some drama off post-game. The Serbian still managed to finish with 30 points, 10 boards, and seven assists but was contained in the second half thanks to rookie big man Charles Bassey who was filling in for Sixers' superstar Joel Embiid.
The young Sixers kept going at it, leaving Denver lost and frustrated which ultimately forced Malone to lash out and get tossed. Echoing what his MVP said, Malone clarified that Jokic was simply checking in on him before the game even finished and that, as far as he knows, there is nothing wrong with Nikola health-wise.
“He was worried about me,” Malone lightly explained. He came back to check on me, make sure I was alright,”
The Nuggets are fine. Despite back-to-back losses, Denver still finds themselves at the sixth spot of the West with Nikola Jokic still putting up MVP numbers.