Okay, everyone’s been saying it for a month now, but we’re super serious this time: Nikola Jokic has to step up. Right now. Before, it wasn’t so urgent, because the Nuggets still had most of their players, but the injuries are really piling up. Jokic is the last above-average starting player remaining besides Jamal Murray and Monte Morris (maybe). You know how bad it is? The Nuggets had to go out and sign Nick “Cocaine Should Be Legalized” Young. That’s how bad it is.
Also Tyler Lydon played in this game. Another bad sign.
This is when MVP candidates take the horse by the reins and drive it directly into a Finals appearance. At the very least a WCF appearance. Gary Harris and Paul Millsap will probably be back by then, but people will remember when Jokic was carrying his whole team through a tempest of injuries and emerging victorious.
27 points is a great start for this newly aggressive version of Jokic. He dominated Marc Gasol. That’s another thing MVP candidates do. They dominate players at their position who are considered really good. Gasol is great, he has a lot of beef to him but Jokic’s beef was simply way too much for him to handle.