{"id":9739,"date":"2025-05-05T04:48:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T04:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/9739\/"},"modified":"2025-05-05T04:48:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T04:48:20","slug":"david-adelman-blasts-refs-lack-of-nikola-jokic-free-throws-in-game-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/9739\/","title":{"rendered":"David Adelman blasts refs, lack of Nikola Jokic free throws in Game 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 David Adelman<\/a> needed to make a point before Game 7.<\/p>\n

But he also knows Nikola Jokic<\/a> might need to help himself more than he did in Game 6 if that point doesn\u2019t get across.<\/p>\n

\u201cNikola gets fouled a lot,\u201d Denver\u2019s interim coach said after a 111-105 loss to the Clippers<\/a> on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019m not sure what was happening tonight, but for him to shoot two free throws with the amount of contact that was going on out there was absolutely crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nuggets are hosting a winner-take-all game Saturday in part because of Jokic\u2019s second half of Game 6 \u2014 a 2-for-9 shooting performance in Los Angeles that was stamped by Ivica Zubac\u2019s fortitude against drives and post-ups.<\/p>\n

Missed calls in a congested lane also helped, in Adelman\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The Clippers) put smalls on him. Those smalls were allowed to do whatever they want,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m really excited for Saturday, that we\u2019re gonna be able to do the same thing with their best players. Because if that\u2019s the physicality we\u2019re allowed to play with, we\u2019ll react to it, and we will go there in Game 7.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in Game 6, Jokic\u2019s inability to react might have cost him. He passed up a handful of 3-pointers, often shot-faking and attacking close-outs instead. Zubac was spectacular at remaining glued to him, and the other Clippers weren\u2019t afraid to collapse into the paint against the drive. Jokic kept stampeding into traffic, even after it was clear that he wasn\u2019t getting a whistle.<\/p>\n

Zubac finished with three blocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was making me kind of question my shots,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cHe was always there. He was really good defensively. \u2026 He was moving his feet really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

On one possession early in the third quarter, Jokic pump-faked Zubac at the top of the key and dribbled downhill to his left. Not only did Zubac stay in front \u2014 Kawhi Leonard helped off of Christian Braun on the perimeter, and with Aaron Gordon in the dunker spot, James Harden was already positioned in the paint. When Jokic tried to spin to his right, he was ambushed by a triple-team.<\/p>\n

With 30 seconds left and Denver down by only five, Jokic opted not to unleash a 3-pointer from the left wing. If he had taken it decisively \u2014 and made it, of course \u2014 the Nuggets might\u2019ve even had enough time to defend out the next possession without fouling. They had a timeout ready if they could get a stop. Instead, Jokic drove and was thwarted at the rim by Zubac one last time.<\/p>\n

The Clippers chased down a loose rebound, and Game 6 was effectively over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good conversation. \u2026 I think he felt, driving the close-outs with Zubac, if he gets by him, he\u2019s creating offense for other people,\u201d Adelman said when asked if he thinks Jokic should\u2019ve shot more 3s. \u201cAaron\u2019s playing behind the defense. It creates corner 3s. Things like that. But probably (want to) have a better mix on Saturday. Let that thing fly a little bit, especially when Zubac is down the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know Nikola. Everything he does is trying to be the most unselfish player he can be. Saturday, maybe we need a little more selfishness from the 3-point line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokic scored 20 points in the first half and five in the second. His 2-for-4 night from deep was consistent with his usual efficiency. Excluding his league-leading 22 long-distance heaves this season, he shot 44% from 3-point range.<\/p>\n

But in Game 6 of a series in which he\u2019s been questioned for his occasional unwillingness to be a scorer<\/a>, his defining fault ironically might\u2019ve been his over-aggressive decision-making.<\/p>\n

Whether correctly or erroneously, the refs didn\u2019t reward him for that approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it on his arms all year,\u201d teammate Peyton Watson said. \u201cHe plays inside, and he plays a really physical game. So what comes with that is a lot of bumps and bruises. We know he\u2019s in there getting hit. Obviously, it\u2019s hard to see when there\u2019s five bodies surrounding him at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n

Originally Published: May 2, 2025 at 1:35 AM MDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 David Adelman needed to make a point before Game 7. But he also knows Nikola…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[877,7,561,765,250,301,187,3943,766,560,529,165,252,6,11,253,302,1146,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-9739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-aaron-gordon","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-christian-braun","11":"tag-colorado","12":"tag-david-adelman","13":"tag-denver","14":"tag-denver-nuggets","15":"tag-denvernuggets","16":"tag-front-range","17":"tag-james-harden","18":"tag-kawhi-leonard","19":"tag-latest-headlines","20":"tag-more-nuggets-news","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-nba-playoffs","23":"tag-nikola-jokic","24":"tag-nuggets","25":"tag-peyton-watson","26":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114453421123224901","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9739","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=9739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}