Washington Wizards forward Justin Champagnie, center left, blocks a shot by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
WASHINGTON — Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 56 points and had little to celebrate afterward.
It happened in a loss — to a team that hadn’t won since October.
Article continues after this advertisement“I think today and the last couple games were really bad for us,” Jokic said. “We are really going in the wrong direction. I think it’s everybody’s fault.”
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🃏 56 PTS (career-high)🃏 16 REB🃏 8 AST🃏 3 3PM
He's the first player in NBA history to total 55+ PTS, 15+ REB, 5+ AST and 3+ 3PM in a single game. pic.twitter.com/7L0lM1e5bJ
— NBA (@NBA) December 8, 2024
If Jokic had any excitement over an astounding stat line that also included 16 rebounds and eight assists, he didn’t show it. His efforts were wasted in a 122-113 loss Saturday night to a Washington team that had lost 16 games in a row.
Article continues after this advertisementDenver (11-10) hasn’t won back-to-back games in nearly a month, and now the Nuggets have lost two in a row. If the season ended now, they’d be a play-in team.
Article continues after this advertisementNo wonder Jokic offered a particularly drastic solution afterward.
Article continues after this advertisement“In my country, where I’m coming from, after this kind of stretch, you’re going to get paycheck that is a little bit less than you had hoped,” the Serbian star said, drawing a laugh. “Maybe that’s what we need to do. Maybe a little motivation.”
The Nuggets were not at full strength Saturday, with Jamal Murray (hamstring), Aaron Gordon (calf) and Dario Saric (ankle) out with injuries. Jokic ended up attempting 38 shots from the field — also a career high — as he tried to carry Denver to a win.
Article continues after this advertisement“I was forcing at the end,” he said.
READ: NBA: Nikola Jokic scores 38 as Nuggets rally past WarriorsHis previous career high in scoring was 50 — also in a loss, at Sacramento on Feb. 6, 2021. Jokic scored 23 points — on 20 shots — in the third quarter against the Wizards as Denver cut a 12-point halftime deficit to six.
Then he took a rest and Washington pushed the lead back into double digits. The Wizards outscored Denver by eight when Jokic was out and by one when he was in the game.
“We have a lot of issues, mainly on the defensive end of the floor,” coach Mike Malone said.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 39 points, including nine 3-pointers, but the Wizards also had balance that Denver lacked. Justin Champagnie scored a career-high 23 and Jonas Valanciunas banged with Jokic inside and finished with 20 points.
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Malone put the blame on himself.
“I’m doing a really poor job with this teamqueen9play,” he said. “For us to be 11-10 at this point and losing to a team that last five games is averaging a hundred points a game and they put up 122 on us — I’m embarrassed by that.”
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