SUMMARY
- Nikola Jokic helped the Nuggets win Game 5 by dropping 40 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds with zero turnovers.
- Draymond Green claims the 3x MVP embarrassed Rudy Gobert.
Nikola Jokic wasn’t easily going to let the Minnesota Timberwolves off the hook especially after being honored with his third Michael Jordan MVP Award at the Ball Arena. The 29-year-old center put on a show and schooled the Wolves as if they didn’t have an early 2-0 lead against the Denver Nuggets. If there was one huge factor in tonight’s win, it was the Nuggets’ defense that restricted the Wolves’ offense from taking charge.
Once again, the Nuggets held the Wolves under 100 points while allowing their best scorer, Anthony Edwards to 18 points. Losing Mike Conley to an Achilles injury was possibly what impacted the Wolves a lot. Karl-Anthony Towns was the only player on the away team to score over 20 points. Jokic was simply unguardable within the paint, nor did Rudy Gobert find a way to stop him. Equal props have to be given to Aaron Gordon for creating his own looks to the rim midway through the game which gave the Nuggets an edge.
Draymond Green believes Nikola Jokic took their 0-2 deficit personally
After the game, Draymond Green couldn’t help but compliment Nikola Jokic over his dominant 40-piece. While making a guest appearance on Inside the NBA on TNT, Green said, “Like I’d love to see what his usage rate was tonight. I have no turnovers and 40 points on 22 shots. I didn’t feel you the entire night. And yes, it was personal. Yes, Rudy Gobert and those guys came out and played great defensively in those first two games in Denver.”
He added, “Denver came back home and wanted to show that, that wasn’t real. We [Denver] are who we said we are and he embarrassed the hell out of Rudy Gobert.” Jokic scored 40 points while recording 13 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. When Michael Porter Jr. had an off night, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made sure to step up on offense. The veteran finished with 16 points shooting 80% from deep.
The Nuggets are not done with business, seek Game 6 closeout
With under 3:30 minutes left on the game clock, Nikola Jokic took Gobert to an isolation matchup and nailed a three-pointer that had the Nuggets bench scrambling. Jokic commented on his teammates saying, “I know, they’re just goofballs. And they’re just making fun. But you know, we had a good run and they should do that.” His role players also impacted the game well as Christian Braun had a couple of impressive defensive plays that transitioned into a few points.
Nikola Jokic iso 3 on Rudy Gobert 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/mwYAvBtzKT
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 15, 2024
Jokic doesn’t believe that the Nuggets should take it easy, however. “Our back is still behind on the wall. And we don’t want to quit you know. We are still desperate, we still want to win. So we are going to Minnesota to get another one,” he said right after the game. Denver overcame a 0-2 deficit with three consecutive wins which includes two road game wins. They will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6.