{"id":581531,"date":"2026-02-04T09:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/581531\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T09:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T09:14:55","slug":"nuggets-david-adelman-blasts-refs-calling-different-game-for-nikola-jokic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/581531\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets\u2019 David Adelman blasts refs calling \u2018different game\u2019 for Nikola Jokic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nuggets\u2019 David Adelman blasts refs calling \u2018different game\u2019 for Nikola Jokic<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Denver Nuggets<\/a> are finding out the hard way that life on the road in the NBA often comes with some questionable whistles.<\/a> Following a gritty 124-121 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night, Nuggets acting head coach David Adelman<\/a> didn\u2019t hold back, calling out a perceived officiating double standard that left three-time MVP Nikola Jokic out in the cold.<\/p>\n

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Adelman\u2019s frustration boiled over<\/a> when comparing the treatment of the league\u2019s elite big men<\/a> to its star guards. \u201cThe frustrating thing about these games is Cunningham shoots 11 free throws. Jamal shoots 13. Jokic shoots 3,\u201d Adelman told reporters after the game. \u201cIt\u2019s like a totally different game. I\u2019m trying to figure it out. So it\u2019s just two different basketball games going on with the bigs and the smalls.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers from the box score certainly highlight the disparity. While Jamal Murray was aggressive<\/a>, leading Denver with 32 points and eight assists while going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe, Nikola Jokic<\/a> struggled to get the same respect. The \u201cJoker\u201d finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists, but he only visited the free-throw line three times despite battling in the paint for 33 minutes.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Cade Cunningham orchestrated<\/a> a balanced Detroit Pistons attack, finishing with 29 points and 10 assists. Detroit never trailed in the contest, torching the Nuggets\u2019 defense early to build a massive 69-50 lead by halftime.<\/p>\n

Denver mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback, outscoring the Pistons 41-31 in the final frame, but the hole was simply too deep. A late triple from Tobias Harris and clutch free-throw shooting in the closing seconds allowed Detroit to secure the win and a season sweep over the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

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For the Denver Nuggets (33-18), the loss is a tough pill to swallow as they continue to navigate a physical Western Conference. If they want to get back into the win column, they\u2019ll need to find a way to thrive even when the whistles aren\u2019t going their way.<\/p>\n

Related: Nuggets\u2019 Jonas Valanciunas gets flagrant foul after MMA move on Pistons\u2019 Isaiah Stewart<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrates Jamal Murray for finally being named an All-Star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nuggets\u2019 David Adelman blasts refs calling \u2018different game\u2019 for Nikola Jokic appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,902,250,301,187,3943,188,762,6,253,302,933],"class_list":{"0":"post-581531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cunningham","10":"tag-david-adelman","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-nuggets","13":"tag-denvernuggets","14":"tag-detroit-pistons","15":"tag-jamal-murray","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-nikola-jokic","18":"tag-nuggets","19":"tag-tobias-harris"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116011605910485825","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}