When the Denver Nuggets failed to reach 100 points for the first time since January, you knew Nikola Jokić must have had an off day. The Joker led both teams in scoring with 27 points, but he couldn’t hide the fact that he missed 19 of his 26 shots in Thursday night’s Game 3. His running mate, who has seen the highest of highs, Jamal Murray, was even surprised and called it an “outlier”.

“I mean, they’re doing what they always do, you know, just kind of putting two on him or swarming him in the paint and stuff like that,” Murray told the media after the game. “I thought the shots he took today it wasn’t like he doesn’t make those every day of his life. So I’ve never seen him shoot what he shot today. That’s just kind of an outlier type of game. Really, from everybody. But we’re not worried about Jok.”

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have previously lit up the playoffs as a duo several times. On June 7, 2023, they became the first teammates with 30-point triple-doubles. But tonight they couldn’t buy any buckets as the Minnesota Timberwolves ran away with a 113-96 win. The Joker dropped just 7 from 26 attempts, and it was only worse from beyond the arc, 2-10. Now the pressure is on the Serbian center to solve Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota defense before Denver’s season expires.

Statistically, it was the worst shooting night of his playoff career, but the struggles continued from the previous encounter. Jokic had a chance to close out the Timberwolves in Game 2, but the Nuggets were outscored by 10 points in the final seven minutes, and he missed six of his seven shots. Gobert was again dominating as the Joker could only convert 1-of-8 against the French star. Instead of starting hot in the first frame on the home team, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets went 3-of-21 shooting in an 11-point first quarter, their lowest-scoring quarter of the season.

This was the first time in Jokic’s career that he attempted at least 26 shots in a game and made only seven or fewer of them. But there was a previous instance when Gobert limited the Joker to less than 30% shooting. This transpired back in 2023, when the Nuggets won Game 5 and the series, but the Joker missed 21 of 29 shots and still recorded a triple-double, including 28 points. Tonight was again a vintage Gobert performance.

The 4x DPOY completely shut down the Joker, and he was +21 in the net (+/-) rating when guarding the Serbian superstar. The French center finished the game with 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. In fact, two of those swatting attempts were against Nikola Jokic.

Head coach remains upbeat despite Nikola Jokic’s horror show

“He had a tough night,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “It happens to players. This guy’s played a million playoff games. There’s nights that are poor. He’ll bounce back. Everyone needs a day to understand we didn’t play well offensively.” The Joker’s shooting troubles are evident as he is 5-of-24 on 3s in this series. But his teammates are not helping him either.

Tonight, Jamal Murray scored just 16 points on just 5-for-17 shooting and missed all five of his 3s. He’s 15-of-42 in the two Nuggets losses. Denver was one of the league’s best 3-point shooting teams during the regular season, but now they are hitting 30% of their 3s in the series, going 33-for-109. That’s not how Nikola Jokic envisioned his postseason this year. He has a career average of 36.2% from beyond the arc, but he has struggled to reach that mark recently.

Against the Wolves, he is 5-24, and in April, during the regular season, he shot just 3-14 from five games. With Rudy Gobert dominating and the entire Minnesota team being aggressive on coverage, the Joker will have to find a solution soon.