‘America, take your hat off to Jokic”: Charles Barkley lauds Nikola Jokic for taking on Anthony Davis in Game 2 vs Lakers

Charles Barkley cannot stop praising Nikola Jokic after Jokic’s strong performance in Game 2, as the Nuggets lose despite his heroics.

4th Quarter, Game 2 – Western Conference Finals. Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis have taken over. They’re going back and forth at each other. The Nuggets went on a 9-0 run in the last minute of the 4th quarter, before AD brought the lead back for the Lakers.

To this, the Joker responded with another big clutch bucket over all NBA defensive team holder Anthony Davis,

And for the final shot, AD yells KOBE and shoots down a 3 pointer that a lot of us, especially the Nuggets won’t forget for quite some time.

Barkley tips his hat to Jokic, awed by his talent

Charles Barkley could not stop praising Nikola Jokic after the disappointing Game 2 loss for the Nuggets. Jokic single handedly scored 11 straight for the Nuggets in the final frame of the 4th quarter to buy the Nuggets a lead, but it wasn’t enough.

Anthony Davis drained the dagger, buzzer-beating 3 and the Nuggets were left gutted. However, a massive positive for the Nuggets from Game 2 was how Jokic handled himself on the court. He made it a point to stay out of foul trouble and took on the might of AD and Howard with supreme confidence.

That 11-0 Jokic run in the clutch was enough to get himself a lot of praise from Charles Barkley.

“I just gotta take my hat off to that Joker, man. I hope America’s getting a chance to see how great a player this kid is. I mean, to single-handedly score 11-straight points and will your team? He takes an All-Defensive guy down in the post and says “We need a basket, I’m going to take it.” Barkley said

How does Denver respond in Game 3?

Game 2 showed everyone that the Lakers aren’t invincible. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets came very close to taking the Lakers down in Game 2, till AD’s buzzer-beater won the game for the Lakers.

The Nuggets need to tighten up their game, turn the ball over less and focus on scoring in transition better. They also need to stop the Lakers’ transition offense and force them to shoot from beyond the arc.

Nuggets also need more production from players apart from Jokic and Murray. Micheal Porter Jr., Gary Harris, and Paul Milsap need to share the offensive load as well if the Nuggets plan to execute one of their comebacks on the mighty Lakers.

The series seems to be far from over and the Nuggets are a very resilient team. Gam3 promises to be a cracking encounter.