The first two West Semis games in OKC showed two different sides of Nikola Jokic. In Game 1, he was in beast mode, dropping 42 points and 22 rebounds to lead the Nuggets to a miraculous road win. Mark Daigneault’s squad could do nothing to stop the three-time MVP. But the second game brought a massive turnaround, as Joker struggled to find his form. Even worse, he fouled out of the contest with over a quarter left, and the Thunder cruised to a blowout win.

With the series now heading to Denver, fans are curious to see which version of Jokic shows up tonight. Fortunately, there are no signs of him missing the crucial encounter. The good news is – Jokic is not listed on the Nuggets’ injury report.

Although Nikola scored only 17 points on Wednesday, his availability for Game 3 is a massive boost for his team. That’s because he is clearly their best player. During the regular season, he became the first Center in NBA history to average a triple-double. Even in the first-round Clippers series, Jokic averaged a 24-point triple-double. So, even on his worst day, the Nuggets are better off with him leading the charge than having to play without him.

Moreover, chances are that Jokic will return to playing at a high level once he hears thousands of Nuggets fans cheering for him in Ball Arena. Surely, he will need that support following Wednesday’s forgettable performance. Apart from his shooting struggles, Jokic also failed to contribute in other ways, as he finished with just six assists and eight rebounds. A major reason behind it was him getting fouled out in the third quarter. And his teammate, Aaron Gordon spoke out in his support.

Aaron Gordon puts NBA refs on notice by highlighting OKC’s physicality against Nikola Jokic ahead of Game 3

As the Nuggets head into tonight’s game, they would not want Jokic to suffer the same fate he did on Wednesday. Although he was the one who got fouled out, Gordon believes the Thunder were being too physical while defending him. Maybe even bending the rules a little bit. He addressed the issue after Wednesday’s loss, calling out the NBA refs, “If they’re going to let them push him and shove him or put two hands on him, root him out, the knees, elbows and all types of stuff they’re doing to him, that’s not necessarily legal, there’s not much that you can do. Jokic got to play through it. If they’re not going to call it, then they’re not going to call it.”

The high flyer also hinted at the officials’ potential bias against Jokic that might have led to his early exit in Game 2, “They’re fouling the guy… They’re calling the second foul almost every time. They’re fouling Joker first, and then [Jokić] is reactionary, and they do get the second guy a lot of the time. But they’re fouling him — point blank, period — throughout the game. It’s a thing where you can’t call every foul or you’d be calling a foul every single play, but they are fouling him.”

Well, now that the next two games are in the Nuggets’ arena, fans will surely let the officials know when they disagree with their calls on Jokic. Apart from the home court advantage, the Denver team also has the advantage of going into tonight’s game with a healthy roster.

The only player sidelined is DaRon Holmes II, dealing with an Achilles injury. And his absence should not have much impact because Holmes was not a key part of the rotation. So, it’s up to the Nuggets to protect home court and regain their lead in this series. Do you think they can do it?