The Nuggets’ playoff hopes take another big hit with this double-OT loss to the Heat. At least this one was reasonable; their defeat at the hands of the Grizzlies was baffling. I told you this would happen. I told you that Paul Millsap would ruin the Nuggets. I am not happy to be correct, I feel no joy, no vindication. Just sadness.
Nikola Jokic was clutch at the end of regulation, tipping in a miss with 10 seconds left to tie the game. This after missing the go-ahead shot a possession earlier. Let’s ignore the fact that he literally cannot play defense and got totally abused by Kelly Olynyk (side note: I am having a fun time imagining Jokic with Olynyk’s hair). Jokic even did some stuff in the overtimes, but it wasn’t enough, because James Johnson turned into a beast and no one could stop him.
For me personally, the worst part of the situation was that the play-by-play data got all screwy at some point early in the first overtime and never recovered. If it turns out that Jokic actually had 40 but nothing and no one recorded it, that’s totally my bad, except not really my bad, more like NBA’s bad. They need to add some redundancy to their data-gathering systems or I’m going to take my talents to the NFL. I hear they let people make highlights now.