MY ACCOUNT
Nikola Jokic bounced back to Denver Nuggets duty as though he had never been away as the win at Miami Heat was described by coach Michael Malone as “a great pain reliever”.
The superstar Serbian, MVP in the NBA last season, had missed four successive games because of a wrist injury amid Denver’s six-game slide.
That was their worst such stretch since 2014-15 and saw them fall away after making a 9-4 start to the season, but prospects for Malone’s men are looking up now that Jokic is fit.
After sinking the Heat 120-111 in Miami, there was a warm mix of emotion and relief in the Nuggets’ locker room.
Jokic posted 24 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, and seemingly that effort had changed everything.
Bones Hyland, the 21-year-old Nuggets point guard, shot a career-high 19 points including five three-pointers, and said: “It felt good going back into the locker room.
“I felt as though the guys were trying to win so bad just because Nikola was out. We know what he provides, and we were trying to fill his shoes and those are big shoes to fill.
“Him being back, everybody’s a team now, playing through him, and it felt good for sure.”
Malone had to search for the correct terminology to describe the post-game emotion.
“I don’t know if relief is the right word, but there was definitely some joy, some smiles, some hugs,” said the coach.
“As corny as that sounds, man, winning is a great pain reliever. We’ve all been down in the dumps and to get this win tonight kind of just stops all of that and allows us to get back to feeling good about ourselves.”
He said playing without Jokic had been “a little bit different” to losing any other player.
Quoted on NBA.com, Malone struck an upbeat tone, saying: “I love the guys in the locker room. I’ll go to war with them. Obviously, tonight was just one win. But after losing six in a row, by no means have we said, ‘We’re gonna change our goals now’. There’s 62 games left, so much basketball to be played. So, you move on and play another day.”
Jokic was not given an easy ride by the Miami crowd, facing boos every time he touched the ball due to the dust-up he and the Heat’s Markieff Morris had in a November 8 game. Morris has missed 11 consecutive games since the incident.
He is big enough to handle such hostility though, saying afterwards: “I played in Serbia, so I wish you guys could feel that.”
The 26-year-old Jokic is averaging 26.2 points, 13.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists this season, so ostensibly this was a par performance. How the Nuggets had missed him at his most routine though.
Jokic felt there was a collective improvement in the team, adding: “Everybody played well. We had seven players in double figures. So, everybody shared the ball. Everybody touched it.”
