Nikola Jokic had a monster game against Oklahoma City Thunder in their Western Conference Semifinals series. Jokic racked up a massive 44 points and 15 rebounds in the game. But, despite controlling the game for three quarters, an offensive dry spell from the Denver Nuggets let the game slip out of their grasp.
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And a former Lakers defensive star has a thing or two to say about that performance. The Thunder pulled off a 112-105 win, and lead 3-2 in the series. Nikola Jokic was, once again, the best performer for the Nuggets. But Lakers legend Metta Sandiford Artest felt there were a few things Jokic could have done better to secure the victory.
Speaking on the livestream of Shannon Sharpe’s Nightcap, Artest claimed that despite his monster game, Jokic’s conditioning — or rather, the lack of it — may have cost the Nuggets in the clutch. The big Serbian was outperformed big time on the defensive end.
“Joker is probably going to be kicking himself in the butt, meaning he should be doing a little of more sprints, right?” Artest asked.
The Nuggets were heavily reliant on Jokic to win this game, as opposed to OKC, who have a ridiculously well-balanced team led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points), Jalen Williams (18), Chet Holmgren (14), and Isaiah Hartenstein (15).
Needed more gas in the tank
Artest claimed that if Jokic had that little extra left in the tank, he’d have been able to play a little tougher defence down the stretch, and win the game almost single-handedly.
“If he’s going to play 44 minutes in the playoffs, and if you look at the games, it’s too easy! And if it’s too easy, you’re not doing those extra sprints. You’re already getting 40 and 20 anyway. These are the games you need to close out, the extra defensive slide, the extra drive,” Artest elaborated.
“And I think, if Joker was in a little bit better shape, he pulls out this game by himself,” he added.
The Nuggets’ scoring effort was massively carried by Jokic. Sure, Jamal Murray got 28 points, but he took 27 shots to get there. The rest of the Nuggets were also wildly inefficient, and Sharpe believes that’s where the game was lost.
While this doesn’t spell the end of the line for Denver, they will need to work extra hard in this series to claw back into contention. This is the first time that Denver has gone down a game in this series.
The Nuggets would look to put on a show for their home crowd and force a Game 7. On the other hand, buoyed by the huge win, OKC will look to close the series out in Game 6.
