Nikola Jokic maneuvered himself to the left elbow, one of his mid-range sweet spots.
How many shots has he hit from there during his career? Hundreds for sure. Thousands maybe.
But late in the second quarter on Sunday afternoon when that shot bounded off the rim, it seemed to punch Jokic and his Denver teammates in the gut. You could almost see shoulders slump and heads sag.Â
It caught them flat-footed, and the Thunder attacked. A few seconds later, Alex Caruso nailed an open shot from behind the arc.
OKC took advantage.
Sure would’ve been nice if the Thunder had done that a bit more in Game 4.Â
On an afternoon Jokic started the game as frigid as a Denver winter — and the Nugget superstar’s teammates weren’t much better — the Thunder failed to build a big lead. It even failed to build momentum. But some fourth-quarter, crunch-time execution, which has been sorely lacking in this Western Conference Semifinal series, saved the day.
Some advice for the Thunder as the series shifts back to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night: Go for the jugular if the Joker starts that way again.
His stat line in the first half: 2 of 10 from the floor for 11 points.
If not for Jokic’s ability to get to the free-throw line — he was 6 of 6 there in the first half — we might have seen the worst half of basketball in his career. Oh, that’s probably hyperbole, but since he’s emerged as one of the best players on the planet, such stretches are rare.
And yet, when he hit his only 3 of the opening half as the second-quarter buzzer sounded and it cut the Thunder’s lead to two possessions, the Nuggets seemed to get a jolt. They came out of halftime and hit six of their first nine shots, taking their first lead with 6:42 left in the third.
The game wasn’t over then, but it felt like it could’ve been.
The Thunder was completely out of sorts. And it’s understandable. Even though the Nuggets were shooting less than 30% from the floor — Jokic wasn’t the only one struggling — they somehow had the lead.Â
Credit to the Thunder, though. It didn’t let the Nuggets get too far away. Denver had an eight-point lead for a moment early in the fourth quarter, but that’s when the Thunder turned a corner. It went on a 13-2 run and took a lead that wouldn’t be relinquished.
Had that not happened, this would’ve been a huge missed opportunity, another game lost in which Jokic was meh.
Or meh by his standards anyway.
He had the big numbers in Game 1, of course, going for 42 points and 22 rebounds, but in the three games since then, he’s had a combined 58 points and 35 rebounds. That’s an average of 19.3 points and 11.7 rebounds.
He had 27 points and 13 rebounds Sunday, but he only hit seven of his 22 shots and misfired on six of his eight attempts from behind the arc. A normally great free-throw shooter, he even missed three of his 14 shots from the line.
That’s way, way below Jokic’s standard.
To have a chance to win this series, the Thunder simply had to come out on the high side in those three games.Â
Frankly, Oklahoma City deserved to because of the way it has defended the three-time MVP. It made life difficult for him. Harassing. Pushing. Tormenting.Â
Sure, he has missed some shots that he normally makes, but part of the equation is the cumulative effect of the Thunder’s defense. Maybe it isn’t great on every single possession, but over time, all the haranguing that Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Jaylin Williams and Co. have done has worn on Jokic.
He looks tired.
Now, maybe he’s not. He’d never admit to it if he were, but his body language, a wee bit droopy, and his facial expressions, a smidge weary, indicate just how difficult this series has been on him.
Sometimes being 6-feet-11 and 284 pounds is an advantage.
Sometimes, not.
Listen, it’s entirely possible he comes out Tuesday night looking spry and shooting well, but there will be another short turnaround that includes a flight to OKC. (This every-other-day series schedule has done no favors for the Nuggets.) It seems just as likely that Jokic will continue to be off.
The Thunder shouldn’t let that opportunity slip.
Step on the throat.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
Game 5: Thunder vs. Nuggets
TIPOFF: 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (TNT)