“Stat Stuffing Against Bad Teams”: Nikola Jokic’s 96 Points And 0-2 Record Against Wizards Has Fans In Disarray

The Denver Nuggets welcomed the Washington Wizards at the Ball Arena tonight, only to be handed a loss by the weakest team in the East. This was the second matchup of the season between these two teams. Surprisingly, Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets had lost the previous game as well.

Despite the two losses, Jokic has registered good performances in both games. Tonight, he dropped 40 points with 13 rebounds and nine assists in a 123-126 loss for his team. When the two teams last met, Jokic dropped a season-high 56 points with 16 rebounds and eight assists.

Tonight’s game tipped in the Wizards’ favor in the final seconds. With five seconds left in the final quarter and scores tied at 123, Poole drained a deep three to give his team their second consecutive win. But more than their win, it’s the Nuggets loss that’s being discussed, especially considering how well Jokic performed.

He now has a total of 96 points while losing both games against a significantly weaker team. What makes his performance look sketchy is the fact that Jokic is the front-runner for the MVP title this season. Outlining that, a fan wrote, “stat stuffing against bad teams to boost his stats but plays real demons and is a good sabonis night get this cone out of the mvp discussion.”

Several fans raised the same concern on social media. Another fan wrote, “he’s really stat padding against the sh*tters of the league and losing & n****s still have the nerve to call him MVP. My MVP would never lose to the Wizards. let alone twice.”

One fan pointed out how Jokic’s Nuggets let Alex Sarr drop 34 points in their backyard. The fan wrote, “Prob shouldn’t have let the least efficient big man in the league Alex Sarr drop an efficient 30 ball.”

Not only is Jokic a strong MVP contender, but the Nuggets are also title contenders. Losing two games to the Wizards doesn’t look good for a team that strong. For now, Jokic is being berated for being a poor MVP candidate. But can we pin all the blame for these losses on the Serbian? Maybe not.

It’s a team effort after all, and as terrible as it looks for them to lose to the Wizards, Jokic isn’t solely responsible for it. More importantly, the criticism is mainly coming from the fans of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is giving Jokic tough competition for the MVP title this season. Even though the stat padder criticism can be seen as valid, it doesn’t stand strong against a 3x MVP averaging triple-double for the season.