Game 1 of the Denver Nuggets-Oklahoma City Thunder embodied the closeness of the MVP race this season. Nikola Jokic torched the Thunder defense with 42 points and 22 rebounds while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander served as OKC’s only consistent scorer. Tonight, the Canadian guard was even more exquisite. The same, though, can’t be said for ‘The Joker,’ as his night ended way earlier than most would have wanted.

The Thunder punished the Nuggets in Game 2, not giving away their lead after Denver scored first. Their lead kept growing, reaching 48 points by the end of the third. SGA took three quarters to score 34 points with eight dimes. On the other hand, it took the three-time MVP the same amount of time to foul out.

The Thunder largely neutralized Nikola Jokic. They forced errors and curtailed his large influence on Denver’s incredible offense. Jokic recorded a plus/minus of -36, the worst mark of his entire career.

Likewise, after he was seen galvanizing his teammates in Game 1 to inspire a victory, it was Nikola Jokic who could have used a pep talk. He picked up two quick offensive fouls at the end of the third quarter, resulting in him fouling out. At the time, though, it was well established that Denver had lost its way in Game 2.

The lead had ballooned to over 30 points, with the Oklahoma City Thunder showing no signs of slowing down. On the other hand, the Nuggets looked beaten well before that point as they shot below 40% from the field, only the second time during the campaign. Normally, fans would be frustrated watching Jokic pick up unnecessary fouls and forcefully exit the game.

However, the major emotion was that of surprise. Why, though?

Fans wonder why Nikola Jokic was on the floor

Because it is the playoffs, teams are expected to show more fight than in the regular season. So even when the deficit looks daunting, teams don’t lose hope. But there is a threshold for everything, even if it is the postseason. The Nuggets had thrown in the towel after seeing their deficit rise uncontrollably from the opening quarter.

Hence, fans were confused with Adelman deciding to keep his starters on the floor till the end of the third, when the deficit was almost 40. “Jokic saw that they were about to get pulled anyways, and fouled himself out,” a fan noted. The action did raise those questions. While trying to defend a possession, Jokic blatantly jumped on Lu Dort’s back. Later, he was called for an illegal screen, putting an end to his night. 

Ideally, in such circumstances, head coaches would opt to rest their starters and begin preparations for the next games. David Adelman, though, seemed to have something else in mind. Or maybe he didn’t lose hope. Whatever the reason may be, fans felt Jokic didn’t see a point in trying to win a losing battle and took matters into his own hands.

“He wasn’t playing the entire fourth quarter anyways. There was only a minute left in the third when he fouled out,” another fan said. Adelman’s showing optimism is a great trait. But in such a contest, prioritizing rest and avoiding any chances of injury seems to be the better strategy.

Especially for the Denver Nuggets, who, although they lost Game 2, still hold an advantage in this series. Their stealing Game 1 did more than just send a statement, but transferred home-court advantage to them. Nikola Jokic knew that. And maybe that’s the reason fans felt “Obviously, he wanted out of the game” when the hopes of a comeback became bleak.

However, judging what should have happened after three quarters doesn’t capture the entire story of the game. The Thunder outplayed the Nuggets in all facets of the game. Shutting down Jokic meant an ineffective Nuggets offense. And that frustrated the Joker. A fan wrote, “Jokic was like this all night. He played reckless and got caught,” looking at his performance.

But keeping the Nuggets’ appalling performance aside, they will have felt the need to mend a lot of their plans and tactics. After such an imposing victory, the Thunder will be on cloud nine. Travelling to Denver won’t seem as intimidating now. It’s up to the Nuggets to take full advantage of being at home and gaining some control in this series once again.

Do you expect Nikola Jokic to have another astonishing performance during Game 3? Let us know your views in the comments below.