After missing around a month of action, Nikola Jokic returned to the court on January 30 against the Los Angeles Clippers, looking a hundred percent like his old self. Just that he didn’t play as long as he normally would, and that has irked Charles Barkley.
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The Denver Nuggets beat the Clippers 122-109, with Jokic scoring 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. It was business as usual for the Joker, whose return will only bolster Denver’s post-season hopes. And Jokic‘s incredible stat line came in just 25 minutes of basketball action.
The crowd and pundits were just happy to witness Jokic’s greatness once again after he missed 16 games with a knee injury he suffered on December 29. Perhaps the reason Barkley bizarrely called for David Adelman’s head for limiting the Serbian’s minutes.
Barkley feels — and rightly so — that Jokic could have done a lot more. “I gotta call out coach Adelman,” he said on ESPN.
“He gave this guy 25 minutes; he would have had 40… We gotta get rid of coach Adelman. He [is] holding this dude back,” continued Barkley.
“This dude should have had 40-15-7… He can’t even get his triple-double on cuz he played half the game,” the Round Mound of Rebounds added.
Of course, Chuck was joking. There is sound logic in restricting Jokic’s minutes, especially since he is returning from a long-term injury. He is back now and will slowly, but surely, play more minutes to satisfy Barkley and others.
That said, the Nuggets looked fine without Jokic, which makes them an even scarier team. They went 10-6 in his absence, establishing themselves as a genuine contender in the Western Conference.
However, Jokic’s second game back was not as impressive. He scored just 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and recorded eight assists in a 121–111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the top team in the NBA. He played four more minutes than he did against the Clippers, which once again shows that Adelman does not want to risk losing his best player to injury again this season.
By the time the playoffs arrive, however, Jokic should be ready to perform at his best.
