Unexpected Jokic problem threatening to sink Nuggets' magical playoff run

It’s one thing for the Nuggets to lose two out of three games against the Thunder. There’s really no shame in that, as OKC was a juggernaut this season, going 68-14, winning the West by 16 games, and cruising to a round one playoff sweep. The fact that the series is tied 2-2 after four games is objectively a great outcome for Denver.

But it’s quite another thing for Nikola Jokic to be mightily struggling in these games and having a hard time helping Denver get over the hump. In Sunday’s Game 4 loss, Jokic had 27 points, but shot just 7/22 from the field and 2/8 on threes.

He had 13 rebounds, but just 3 assists, and he relied on 14 free throw attempts to save his performance from being an all-time stinker. Now, Jokic has earned the right to have a bad game, but this is concerning as it now makes three in a row in this Thunder series that have been far below the Joker’s usual standard.

In Games 2, 3, of 4 of this series, Jokic is shooting just 33.3% and 18.2% on threes, going 6/16, 8/25, and 7/22 in the past three contests. On top of that, he has 16 turnovers and just 15 assists over that span as well. It’s his first time shooting under 40% in any three consecutive games since 2018.

Jokic has been so steadily brilliant for so long that it’s staggering to see him even have one game like this, let alone three. For him not to be scoring efficiently or setting up his teammates for constant baskets is jarring, and it’s obviously extremely concerning to see this happening during this series when his team needs him the most.

Nuggets cannot win Thunder series if Jokic doesn’t play better

The Nuggets managed to steal Game 3 on one of Jokic’s off nights, but they should count their lucky stars, and it basically took a perfect performance by everyone else in the rotation. They can’t bank on that happening again.

As great as Jokic has been all season, he needs to find that level and get back to dominating in a hurry, or the Nuggets are in trouble. When analyzing this series, for Denver to have any chance, it relied on Jokic being the best player on the floor all series and creating an unsolvable problem for the vaunted OKC defense.

Without that cheat code working in Denver’s favor, they are nearly drawing dead against this team, as we saw on Sunday. The team scored just 87 points after a pathetic 8-point first quarter to open the game. They fought back and took the lead late in the game before being undone by an 18-point fourth quarter.

Starting and ending the game in such a pitiful fashion is simply not going to get it done against the Thunder, and that’s why they need to be able to lean on the MVP in these moments. We are so used to seeing Jokic come through when needed, so it’s bizarre and unsettling to see him struggle like this.

Hopefully, he can bounce back, but if not, there is very little hope for the Nuggets’ offense being able to get back on track and overcome another bad game from the best player in the world. It’s not going to be easy against this defense, but Jokic needs to find a way to make a major impact on the rest of this series before it’s too late.