Nikola Jokic has missed the last two games for the Nuggets for personal reasons as he is with his family for the birth of his first son and second child. The two missed games have resulted in two ugly losses as the Nuggets have failed to score more than 94 points without their three-time NBA MVP.
The team has also been missing starting forward Aaron Gordon, so they’ve been without their entire frontcourt for the past two games. But still, with two max players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., they should be able to generate enough offense to compete with the banged-up Pelicans and Grizzlies.
Yet, that has not been the case as Murray has looked like a shell of himself, and not enough players have stepped up to help fill the void without Jokic. The Nuggets are still 7-5 on the season and losing these games is not a huge deal, but it is concerning to see just how lost they look without Jokic on the floor.
Nikola Jokic listed as questionable again on Tuesday
Jokic comes into Tuesday carrying another questionable tag, just as he has for the past two games. I have no inside info, but the Nuggets stayed in Memphis and will face the Grizzlies again before heading home, so it might make sense for Jokic to stay home with his family before rejoining the team when they return to Denver.
That would mean the Nuggets will play for their NBA Cup lives without their best player on Tuesday night. Denver is 0-1 in group play after losing to New Orleans on Friday night. They likely will need to win out and build up an impressive point differential to advance to the next round.
That starts with Tuesday night’s game in Memphis. A loss to the Grizzlies would all but ensure the Nuggets are eliminated from the NBA Cup. This wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but it would be disappointing to see the team bow out without a whimper, or without getting to see Jokic even play in an NBA Cup game.
But that’s a small price to pay to make sure Jokic gets all the time he needs with his family. It would also provide another much-needed opportunity for the Nuggets to show any signs of cohesiveness without the Joker. Hopefully, they never have to play a meaningful game without him, but they will certainly have to survive stretches during games.
They have too many good and highly-paid players to perform this poorly every time that Jokic sits. We need to see more out of Murray and the Nuggets should make him a focal point tonight; force him to carry the load a bit and see how he responds.