Nikola Jokić reached a new high in a Hall of Fame career on Saturday. It wasn’t enough to avoid a loss to the worst team in the NBA.
Jokić’s Denver Nuggets fell 122-113 to the Washington Wizards, despite the three-time MVP posting 56 points on 22 of 38 shooting, along with 16 rebounds and eight assists. The win snapped a 16-game losing streak for Washington, whose record remains the worst 3-18 in the NBA. Every other NBA team has at least five wins.
In Jokić’s case, the career high was less a reflection of brilliance than a lack of other options on the Nuggets. Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Aaron Gordon (calf) were both out Saturday, effectively leaving the big man with the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 options for a team that is now 11-10.
Every non-Jokić Denver player combined to shoot 24-for-56 with 10 turnovers. The bigger problem could have been on defense, however, as the NBA’s worst team in terms of offensive rating looked downright competent against the short-handed Nuggets.
Jordan Poole finished the game with 39 points on 12 of 26 shooting (9 of 20 from 3-point range) with eight assists. G League veteran Justin Champagnie, who had played about four and a half minutes in the NBA before Thursday, had 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting.
A nice pass from Poole to Champagnie here for the one and one.
Washington is having its best offensive half of the season, double-digit over Denver, forcing 12 TOs and shooting 51% from the field. pic.twitter.com/OauhG2u4iP
— Bijan Todd (@bijan_todd) December 8, 2024
There won’t be many worse losses this season than in the NBA, even if the Nuggets were shorthanded and the Wizards got the rare Jordan Poole 2022 vintage game.
Denver now faces the second half of a back-to-back with a road game against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday before the NBA schedule pauses for the regular-season tournament.
