Jokic's teammates failed him...AGAIN.

[Dominator83]

Laker fans in here circle-jerking each other over Denver’s loss . Gotta love it.

Ive always been the opposite in regards to those things. Like when my team gets knocked out of the playoffs, it feels better to say you lost to the eventual champs, than to say you couldn't beat a 2nd round team.

[Chuck Everett]

How does he need more help than having a previous championship roster?

It's easier to blame someone than just give credit to Minnesota for playing better. Finch/Nori benched Kyle Anderson after four minutes of woeful play. McDaniels picked up his 4th foul just by being dumb and they kept him in the game, realizing the stakes. The gamble paid off and they are moving on.

The Nuggets losing is a good thing. All year, they played like their **** didn't stink. Too many close games, not really blowing out the bad teams, so the bench could get extended run. I have personally felt all year that the Nuggets were surprised by just how hard their opponents would play against them as the defending champions.

I expect them to be right back at the top of the WC next year, with a chip on their shoulder. But that mindset has to begin during the regular season and can't be a switch that gets flipped come playoff time.

[Jaqua92]

There's not another player in the NBA who gets this Denver team into a top 7 seed.

Jokic has the worst team around him compared to the other 5 guys.

Dude plays with zero all stars and zero bench, and after going down 0-2 against the #1 defense/losing team in the NBA finals, a team with superior depth and 3 all stars, had his team in control of game 7

People have been waiting over a year to pile on the guy.

He's a legit all star caliber player away from winning multiple championships.

A lot of weak, Timberwolf like front running

[Jaqua92]

How does he need more help than having a previous championship roster?

It's easier to blame someone than just give credit to Minnesota for playing better. Finch/Nori benched Kyle Anderson after four minutes of woeful play. McDaniels picked up his 4th foul just by being dumb and they kept him in the game, realizing the stakes. The gamble paid off and they are moving on.

The Nuggets losing is a good thing. All year, they played like their **** didn't stink. Too many close games, not really blowing out the bad teams, so the bench could get extended run. I have personally felt all year that the Nuggets were surprised by just how hard their opponents would play against them as the defending champions.

I expect them to be right back at the top of the WC next year, with a chip on their shoulder. But that mindset has to begin during the regular season and can't be a switch that gets flipped come playoff time.

Depth is gone, and they never got a rhythm all season

[kveble]

How does he need more help than having a previous championship roster?

They lost Green and Brown. Losing not only one, but two very important colors is always bad.

[SweaterBae]

This is the trouble that Denver put themselves into.

Jokic puts up 34/19/7 (on 28 shots) and one of the takeaways is Jokic didn’t play well enough and took too many 3s.

The thing is, I do agree with that take. You could tell he was trying to conserve energy because he was in line for a 47 minute game.

But that’s the thing 34/19/7 on just 54 TS% isn’t good enough. He needed that stat line but with like 65 TS%. We’ve seen him do it before, so we know he can do it.

But Jokic really is the only guy since probably early LeBron or that LeBron Cavs run when everyone got hurt, that we expect to put up these kinds of games.

That’s just not a winning formula. Ya Murray had a good game, but he still finished out these playoffs with more FGAs than points (47 TS% for the playoffs). Your banking on a non all star player to repeatedly step up to All NBA level each year in the playoffs. That doesn’t seem like the best gameplan. Again ya he had a good game tonight (mainly 1st half). But if he played better earlier in the series (like in game 1), good chance Denver doesn’t have to play a game 7.

I’ll say this. I don’t think Jokic’s teammates failed him. I think Minny had the level of defense where outside of Jokic, the rest of the players played like what you could expect from role players against a good defense in the playoffs.

The way this team was built is what failed them this playoff. And all the props to Minny and their defense for that. Denver didn’t have a true #2 star that could consistently put pressure on that defense and Minny just pressured them to death essentially.

ehhh, it isn't good enough because MPJ and KCP scored 12 points on 17 shots. Credit where it is due, straight to Minnesota, but putting this on Jokic is just ridiculous. It's a team sport. Minnesota had the better team. We'll notice *nobody* is talking about "undisputed top 5 player in the league" Ant man with a TS% of 32.2 tonight. He was also 2-10 from three.

I’m not putting it on Jokic. I’m putting it on the front office. That was my entire point. Jokic having what kind of feels like an off night while still putting up 34/19/7 and it only felt like an off night because he did that on 54 TS% not some freakish high efficiency like we’ve seen him do before. In reality that shouldn’t be considered an off night, especially in a game 7 against the best defense in the NBA.

But that is kind of the window we view with Jokic right now. He’s almost expected to go supernova in these games. I also can’t really blame the rest of the team. Minny is the best defense in the league. Not shocked a catch and shoot guy like MPJ struggled in this series. Not shocked an energy guy like Gordon couldn’t be a consistent threat on offense. Not shocked KCP didn’t do much. And not shocked Murray looked like a non all star for the vast majority of the series. That’s what Minny’s defense did to them.

Denver didn’t have that 2nd star that could consistently put pressure on Minny’s defense. It was basically, double Jokic and just close out hard on the kick out and force someone else to make a play. And no one could consistently. Not even getting to the point where Denver couldn’t even act like they could compete with Minny whenever Jokic sat.

I think this was the series where Jokic being 9 years in and never playing with another all star showed. Murray couldn’t come close to being that guy in these playoffs. He couldn’t even dribble against Minny’s defense.

I think it’s time the front office stops relying on Jokic having to go supernova to be a top team and relying on a non all star to magically turn into an All NBA guy once the playoffs come along. I think it’s time they find a true dynamic star to pair with Jokic.

His teammates obviously failed him, horribly.

[SlimShady83]

Haha I'm loving this ... Let's go wolves

[JustBuzzin]

Those who point fingers when things go bad...

Denver was up 20 points in the 3rd quarter. Nobody was calling them underachievers. But the moment they blow the lead it's everyone's fault but Jokic.

Last time I checked he was on that same court with those same players.

My old man always told me only cowards deflect blame when things get tough.

The more fans make excuses for Jokic the more he looks bad. He gets all the praise when they win and none of the blame when they lose.

Please people stop making excuses you're painting a bad narrative for Jokic. He's not going to throw his teammates under the bus when he had a chance to stop the comeback as well.


Make it make sense people.

[MrGoat]

Jokic had 15 boards at the half, he finished with only 19 despite playing the entire second half. This was a team loss and he isn't above criticism. He even had a minute off in the first half, Josh Hart played all 48 minutes 3 times for the Knicks this playoffs and all 53 minutes in their OT game. Now I know Jokic is no Josh Hart so there's an excuse for him to get gassed but...

[dygaction]

There's not another player in the NBA who gets this Denver team into a top 7 seed.

Jokic has the worst team around him compared to the other 5 guys.

Dude plays with zero all stars and zero bench, and after going down 0-2 against the #1 defense/losing team in the NBA finals, a team with superior depth and 3 all stars, had his team in control of game 7

People have been waiting over a year to pile on the guy.

He's a legit all star caliber player away from winning multiple championships.

A lot of weak, Timberwolf like front running

What could be worse is KCP might opt out for a long term contract. OKC may make Nuggets even more difficult to match by offering something stupid, as making Nuggets weaker definitely helping OKC in the long run.

[KGtabake]

Jokic and Giannis are the best players.
And they share the same fate.
They will be underappreciated when the team doesn't perform and their accolades and titles when they win will be undervalued because they "got lucky others were injured" yada yada.
That's the fate of any truly all timer these days.
No credit.
The social media era.

[brutalitops]

They badly need another shot creator besides Jokic/Murray. MPJ is not a 3rd option (making his series against LA that much more infuriating). And obviously, they need something resembling a bench.

Letting MPJ shoot is bad.

Making MPJ make decisions is the key.

[Synciere]

1. Jokic is not prime MJ or Lebron. He’s going to be an All Timer, but his playoff resume is lacking, especially considering competition. He’s yet to beat a 50 win team.

2. This is less about the Nuggets role players failing and more about Minnesota just having that great of a defense. Shift the Nuggets blame to Timberwolves appreciation.

3. Games like this are when a guy like Porter is supposed to step up. He needs to play like an All Star for this team to really thrive.

[ChartFiction]

This is the trouble that Denver put themselves into.

Jokic puts up 34/19/7 (on 28 shots) and one of the takeaways is Jokic didn’t play well enough and took too many 3s.

The thing is, I do agree with that take. You could tell he was trying to conserve energy because he was in line for a 47 minute game.

But that’s the thing 34/19/7 on just 54 TS% isn’t good enough. He needed that stat line but with like 65 TS%. We’ve seen him do it before, so we know he can do it.

But Jokic really is the only guy since probably early LeBron or that LeBron Cavs run when everyone got hurt, that we expect to put up these kinds of games.

That’s just not a winning formula. Ya Murray had a good game, but he still finished out these playoffs with more FGAs than points (47 TS% for the playoffs). Your banking on a non all star player to repeatedly step up to All NBA level each year in the playoffs. That doesn’t seem like the best gameplan. Again ya he had a good game tonight (mainly 1st half). But if he played better earlier in the series (like in game 1), good chance Denver doesn’t have to play a game 7.

I’ll say this. I don’t think Jokic’s teammates failed him. I think Minny had the level of defense where outside of Jokic, the rest of the players played like what you could expect from role players against a good defense in the playoffs.

The way this team was built is what failed them this playoff. And all the props to Minny and their defense for that. Denver didn’t have a true #2 star that could consistently put pressure on that defense and Minny just pressured them to death essentially.

I think you have to make trades because the other contenders are only getting better. And Murray has great trade value.

But this was Denver's best season yet with 57 wins (in Jokic's Nuggets era). A lot of that has to do with Murray's two man game with Jokic.

Early on in the season Murray was playing and the Nuggets looked great. Shortly after he got injured and missed all of November and Denver was barely above a .500 team without him. In that stretch, I remember Jokic increased his aggressiveness scoring but his efficiency went down from his usual hyper efficient scoring. Still decent but noticeably less efficient. He was scoring nearly 30 ppg in November. When Murray came back, they started winning again and ended the season with their most successful year yet and Jokic was able to play more in his passive scoring role and his efficiency sky rocketed.

There is a significant risk to trading Murray if it does not work out. I think the current chemistry with Murray allows Jokic to also play in his most comfortable playstyle. Shaking that up, I don't know what it will look like. I don't think replacing Murray with someone who will do the same thing leaves much options. Murray takes some really hard shots and I don't know how many players would play better in that role.

[One_and_Done]

Jokic had plenty of help. Ant didn't even shoot well in the last game, it happens. Ultimately Jokic just isn't as impactful as his hype machine wanted us to believe.

[garrick]

Only getting 5 points from the bench and having MPJ provide 7 points just won't cut it.

I think Jokic and Murray just ran out of gas in the second half without anyone else really contributing on the offensive side.

[sammo89]

Jokic was responsible for all those offensive rebounds that sealed the game though. And he was bailed out by some bad calls when he had lost the ball (the Naz Reid goaltend, Kat's 5th foul and one wrong out ball). All those would have been turnovers

[xinxin]

Those who point fingers when things go bad...

Denver was up 20 points in the 3rd quarter. Nobody was calling them underachievers. But the moment they blow the lead it's everyone's fault but Jokic.

Last time I checked he was on that same court with those same players.

My old man always told me only cowards deflect blame when things get tough.

The more fans make excuses for Jokic the more he looks bad. He gets all the praise when they win and none of the blame when they lose.

Please people stop making excuses you're painting a bad narrative for Jokic. He's not going to throw his teammates under the bus when he had a chance to stop the comeback as well.


Make it make sense people.

yup. it's not like people are asking him to return the MVP trophy.. He deserved that award. No one is questioning that.

I also cant accept the claim that he had no help.. no all stars? Murray would be an all star if not for his frequent injuries during the regular season. we all know that since 2020 whenever Murray shows up during playoffs, he's been the difference. if he didnt make those game winners in the last series versus the lakers, who knows if Denver even makes it to the second round.


they just didnt play like champs. and the Wolves played better. as simple as that.

[HotRocks34]

Jokic was great in Game 7. His NBA Efficiency number was above 40. That's greatness and no one else played at that level in this contest, particularly on his team. Including Murray.

Minny won despite Ant going 6/24. That says a lot.

Denver needs more talented depth. They almost got away with skimming on that, but it caught up to them in the end.

Now we have Jokic's Game Score from Game 7 -- 29.1

To put that figure in context, compare it with MJ's 1991 Finals average Game Score -- 29.4

In that series MJ averaged 31/6/11 on 55/50/84.

That's the level we're talking about here.

And Jokic did it against the league's best defense. And he played 47 minutes. Etc.

Jokic was great in Game 7. He could have been better, but honestly even he looked out of gas in the second half IMO.

[mowcrowbar]

Goes to show how good Jokic is. He was the only one doing anything in the fourth. All the other guys looked scared outside of Murray in some stretches. This team needs a second star ASAP.