We all woke up Thursday morning to see Nikola Jokic’s name trending on Twitter, with fingers being pointed at the super-talented Denver Nuggets big man for seemingly running out of gas in a 120-116 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
That’s not right and it’s not what to take away from the Lakers’ biggest statement win of the season.
Focus on how LeBron James was everywhere in a triple-double performance. Look at Anthony Davis closing out with two key three-pointers and the way the big man was a force on both ends of the floor. The bench — the Lakers’ clear weakness — got stellar games from Dwight Howard and Alex Caruso.
Yes, there was this late Jokic possession that should have resulted in him taking a three. Not great:
What lesson do u think Jokic learned here? pic.twitter.com/QmWfSnxDm9
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) February 13, 2020
But what team has an answer when James is heading to the basket and kicking out to Davis, who can hit from distance like he did twice in overtime with assists from Bron?
Bron (32 PTS, 14 AST & 12 REB) and AD (33 PTS & 10 REB) put on a show in Denver ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/74HVNZ2XTC
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 13, 2020
The answer to that question might come in the playoffs. But that’s more about what the Lakers have than what Jokic and the Nuggets don’t. What Denver does have is Jamal Murray back and healthy, averaging 29 ppg in February and Jokic doing his usual dishing-and-scoring after keeping the Nuggets in the running for the West’s No. 1 seed when Murray was out:
Jamal Murray got hurt on January 15th, leaving the Nuggets down 3 starters for the next 2.5 weeks. Since then, Jokic has played more minutes than anyone else in the NBA. https://t.co/3RkfEZCdFt
— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) February 13, 2020
The Nuggets also had FIVE back-to-backs over that stretch. They went 10-5 overall.
— Adam Mares (@Adam_Mares) February 13, 2020
Found this stat from @ESPNStatsInfo fascinating…
Jokic has been the best big-shot maker in the NBA over the last two seasons. He has FIVE this season, also the most in the NBA. Rest of the list is interesting but feels 🤔 as well… pic.twitter.com/Rp3hZyDYcK
— Cassidy Hubbarth (@CassidyHubbarth) February 12, 2020
Get the Jokic hate out of here. This win was all about the Lakers showing the rest of the NBA that they should be very, very afraid.
[jwplayer fGkn6bLV-q2aasYxh]