Playing through foul trouble
The most impressive aspect of Jokic’s performance was his ability to play through foul trouble. The Serb picked up his fifth personal foul midway through the third quarter and played the last 18 minutes of the game with the realistic danger of being tossed out.
Jokic, who seemed to operate as a player-coach, refused to take himself out of the game even when the Thunder played their double-big lineup of Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren. To defend without fouling, the three-time MVP guarded the smaller Jalen Williams instead of banging with Hartenstein and Holmgren, which worked wonderfully.
Williams was held to 0-of-7 with Jokic as the primary defender, and Holmgren shot 0-of-3 when guarded by Aaron Gordon. The Nuggets also smartly put Russell Westbrook and Peyton Watson on Hartenstein instead of tasking Jokic with the job.
Most of these late-game adjustments were made on the fly by Jokic, who channeled his inner Bill Russell and served as player-coach. That’s not to discredit interim head coach David Adelman, who has done an admirable job since taking over from Michael Malone, but Jokic was seen running plays and barking orders at his teammates all game.
Jokic also proved why he’s the reigning champion of Shaquille O’Neal’s “Big Man Alliance” as Denver outrebounded OKC, 63-43, due to his ability to “big boy” Hartenstein and Holmgren on the interior.
“Joker is coaching right now,” Charles Barkley declared on “Inside the NBA” on TNT. “He is taking control of that team. You’ve seen him be more animated and emotional than ever before — it’s all happening in the last month. We’ve been covering this team for years, and he don’t ever show emotion, but in the last month, he has been doing that. Obviously, coaches are important, but Joker’s like, ‘Nah. This is my team and we’re gonna keep winning.'”
To Barkley’s point, the Nuggets are 8-3 since axing Malone, which includes a first-round playoff series win over the Clippers.
OKC is under immense pressure to solve its rebounding issues. If not, Jokic will average over 20 boards this series. And to quote the great Pat Riley, “No rebounds, no rings.”
