Gregg Popovich and Mike Malone Praise Nikola Jokic and His Performance in Game 7

The Denver Nuggets defeated San Antonio Spurs last night, in Game 7 of a thrilling series which took place in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. A tough and defensive-minded clash at Pepsi Center ended 90-86 for the hosts, because of a miscommunication in Spurs’ team during the final seconds of the match.

Pepsi Center was so loud during Denver’s possession that the visiting player couldn’t hear Gregg Popovich who was yelling that they make a foul.

Spurs’ coach even entered the playing area a few steps and tried to tell LaMarcus Aldridge to foul Jokic who had the ball, because there was still time to try to pull something out. Nuggets were ahead four points, and there was still some 20 seconds until the end.

But the big fella didn’t hear his coach. This surprised the home team players also.

“After the game, you’re thinking, `Why didn’t they foul?” Torey Craig said.

When Denver plays, it is always about Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and there was no different last night. Right from the start of the season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1np7XF6smg

Muray scored the clutch points last night, and he sealed Nuggets’ victory with a basket with 36.8 seconds until the end. In those last few minutes, the Spurs were coming back big, and somebody had to step up for the hosts and to stop that.

A 6-0 run of the visitors cut Denver’s lead to only two points, and at that moment, Mike Malone’s guys were already without a score in more than two minutes. The sharpshooting guard took the ball went around Jokic and dropped a nice floater which set the arena on fire. After going up and down in this series, this was Murray’s moment of truth.

The one guy who never goes up or down, but performs at the highest possible level in every game is Nikola Jokic. He recorded a triple-double in the most important game of his career so far. No, choke, no oscillations, no nothing. Just hurting the opponent.

Jokic ended the game with 21 points, 15 boards and 10 assists, and 3 blocks for 43 minutes on the floor.

“He’s magnificent, magnificent,” Gregg Popovich said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”

His shooting from the field wasn’t that good, as he made just 9 of 26 attempts, but still, that has no impact on Mike Malone who finds Jokic’s presence on the court absolutely necessary.

“I can’t take him out,” Malone said of Jokic, “Even when he’s not making shots, he has a tremendous impact on the game.”

All the reporters were focused on his numbers in this series, but the Serb reminded them that Denver won, and that his stats are not a big deal for him as much as Denver’s success is.

“I think the team expected me to do something, so I’m just going out there and trying to play my best basketball possible. So is it something that I live for? No. It’s just really good stats.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MY0ydF0nyU

And they are more than good, 23.1 points, 12.1 boards, and 9.1 assists, with a tremendous influence on the performance of other teammates.

The next series will be challenging for the Nuggets and the Joker. Despite the fact that Trail Blazers are missing two of their starting centers, Jusuf Nurkic who finished the season after a gruesome injury, and Enes Kanter who probably won’t play the first two matches after his shoulder injury, the third-seeded crew from Oregon will be a much tougher opponent than Spurs.

Why? Because of Damian Lillard who is playing like never before.

The Nuggets are leading 2-1 in head-to-head clashes this season, and that one loss came right before the playoffs, but Jokic didn’t play in Oregon on that night.

He is averaging 25.7 points, 9,7 boards and 8 assists against the Blazers, with 62% from the field. There is no doubt that his job will be much easier without those two above-mentioned guys, but he has to exploit that advantage in the best possible way and compensate Lillard’s damage on the other end.

Game 1 of that series starts on Monday, and it will be played at Pepsi Center.