Follow Us
The Denver Nuggets were blown off of their home court on Sunday evening by the Boston Celtics, 124-104. In the loss, reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic had a very rough night, as he only scored 23 points with eight rebounds and four assists. For most players, those numbers would be really good. But that’s not the case for Jokic. After the game, Jokic spoke to the media and addressed the Nuggets’ biggest problem.
Nikola Jokić postgame: “We lost because of me. It’s very simple. Maybe I force it, I don’t know, I just thought I had easy scores and I didn’t. They guarded me really well.”
Added “Defensively I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) March 21, 2022
Altitude TV reporter Katy Winge captured Jokic’s thoughts.
“We lost because of me. It’s very simple. Maybe I force it, I don’t know, I just thought I had easy scores and I didn’t. They guarded me really well… Defensively I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”
It wasn’t just the lack of production from the Nuggets big man. His efficiency was terrible in the loss, shooting 8-23 from the field.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics once again dominated defensively. The Nuggets were held to 40 percent shooting from the field. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown got whatever they wanted offensively. Both players scored exactly 30 points, and combined to shoot a whopping 23-36 from the field.
The Celtics won their third straight game and are 21-4 over their last 25 games. For Denver, it was the second straight loss after losing in Cleveland. Denver is tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves, three-and-a-half games behind the Utah Jazz atop the Northwest Division.
These are the kinds of statements you want to hear from your leader. Whether or not the loss was because of Jokic, he stood up and took responsibility. In this particular case, he clearly was at least part of the issue. It however would be shocking if he did not bounce back against the Clippers on Tuesday.