Nikola Jokic sends warning to entire NBA after win over the Kings

The first game in the "Post-Malone" era resulted in a massive 124-116 win Wednesday Night versus the Sacramento Kings. 

After the game, ESPN's Katie George asked Nikola Jokic how the team has been able to handle the wild changes in the previous 48 hours. Here was his reply:

Jokic recognizes that most people have given up on the Nuggets, but he still believes that they are still an extremely dangerous team.

While the Nuggets will need Jamal Murray to have any sort of deep playoff run, the fact that they were able to pull out this type of road win without him showed guts. 

There were plenty of takeaways from the Nuggets win that support Jokic's claim that despite the recent adversity, the Nuggets may be a team nobody in the Western Conference wants to play.

A Jalen Pickett Masterpiece

Jalen Pickett filled in admirably for Murray, arguably playing his best game as a Nugget. In 31 minutes, Pickett scored 18 points on 6-10 shooting. Five of those makes came from beyond the arc, and he continually punished the Kings for doubling Jokic and clogging the paint. 

Pickett also continued his familiar trend of playing slow and steady, not making mistakes or forcing the game-changing turnovers that put the Nuggets defense back on its heels (*cough* *cough* Russell Westbrook). 

Pickett also contributed four assists and only committed one turnover. While those numbers aren't gaudy, they are the exact type of production that Denver needs when Murray isn't on the court. 

Russell Westbrook's decline in minutes

Once again, Russell Westbrook showed why he is unplayable. He somehow managed to chuck up 11 shots and only make two of them, in only 17 minutes of action. 

His deep bag of wild turnovers, horrendous shot selection, and horrible finishing at the rim was on full display versus the Kings. 

Westbrook took more shots than Pickett despite playing 14 less minutes, and had a -5 plus minus in an eight point win. The good news? This is the lowest amount of time Westbrook has seen the court since December.

At this rate, David Adelman may use Jalen Pickett as the backup point guard in the playoffs, and banish Westbrook to the bench if the Nuggets are able to get Jamal Murray back.

Body Language and Communication 

Another positive was that the Nuggets seemed engaged from the jump, and their energy and body language jumped off the television screen compared to how they had been playing before Michael Malone's firing. 

Their best player and fearless leader was the catalyst behind this change in demeanor.
Nikola Jokic didn't put up a Wilt Chamberlain like stat line in Denver's win, but he displayed a ton of important leadership to go along with his 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. 

Jokic was really active in timeouts, and was often seen talking to individual players about offensive positioning and defensive rotations during dead balls.

The Nuggets don't have the defensive personnel they had in 2023, so they will have to make up for it with hustle, engagement and communication. Last night's game was a good start. 

Have the Nuggets been "woken up?"

After maybe the most important win of the season, the Nuggets showed that they are not dead yet, and maybe the "beast" that Jokic referred to will be snarling once the playoffs start. 

While it's fair to question whether one game can really turn around a season that's gone poorly in so many ways, momentum is an interesting thing. So is Jokic right? Could the Nuggets make a 360 degree turn and make some noise in the playoffs?

You never want to overreact, but on Wednesday night, the Nuggets looked the part of a beast that not many teams will want to tangle with in this year's playoffs.