Renck vs. Keeler: Can Nuggets beat Thunder if Nikola Jokic can’t shake slump?

Renck As Nikola Jokic s repeated shots clanked off the front rim it raised the unnerving question What is wrong with him The conclusion is simple The greatest player in the world is knee-deep in a head-throbbing slump Jokic has shot below over a three-game stretch with at least attempts for the first time in his career per ESPN He is missing bunnies and -pointers for Jokic is making no excuses it is fair to wonder if the sleeve on his right elbow is a sign of an injury and admits he has to be better What if he is not Can the Nuggets win two of the next three games if he doesn t shake his funk Keeler Once Joker s shot goes funky the Nuggets aren t long for the dance floor my friend Aaron Gordon is a guy you want as a teammate and cherish even more as a friend Jamal Murray has a gear that can make it rain from feet up Michael Porter Jr is the hoops equivalent of a tech stock But Jokic is the base The foundation The bread for David Adelman s postseason PB J sandwich If he can t hold up Denver s got a big ol mess on its hands Renck The Nuggets are finished without the best of Jokic The predicament is that he s been struggling the entire playoffs He shot from the field and from during the season compared to and in the postseason Denver does not have the depth to cover Jokic s regression over three games against OKC s swarming defense The Nuggets did it once in Contest But then Michael Porter Jr disappeared and Bubble Jamal Murray and Playoff Aaron Gordon came back to earth Keeler It s the elbow It s the ankle But majority of of all it s the legs Remember all that talk in hindsight about keeping the best athlete on Earth to a pitch count after Battle vs Minnesota last year so that sort of collapse wouldn t happen again Promises made promises not exactly kept Per NBA com Jokic appeared in fewer of the Nuggets final regular-season games this season nine than last year But because of that insane heroic and historic - - vs the T-Wolves he in fact logged more minutes per contest over the Nuggets final regular season tilts first round of the playoffs than he did during the same span in the spring of Naturally Minny revealed a way to mess up the Nuggets best-laid plans again Renck Jokic is not immune to bad aim It happens He looks exhausted from being questioned to do too much but if he s not hurt the answer is simple let him shoot There is no way a weary Nuggets band wins two of the next three games including at least one in Oklahoma City without him returning to form And there s a reason to think this happens He is getting good shots OKC is not employing the equivalent of the Jordan Rules Jokic must make his floaters and lay-ups in the paint and knock down a insufficient s And keep getting to the line even though he s only making in the playoffs Maybe Murray and Gordon go off but there is no chance the Nuggets stay on track for the Western Conference Finals without Jokic at his best Related Articles Is Thunder s depth catching up with Nuggets late in playoff series Nuggets Podcast Nikola Jokic s struggles Aaron Gordon s heroics and a Championship fade vs Thunder Renck Nuggets were not a no-show they were a no-shoot in ugly Battle loss Nuggets David Adelman shoulders blame for key -second violation That s inexcusable Nuggets go cold at wrong time drop Event to OKC Thunder at home Keeler One of my favorite things about the Big Honey s arsenal He impacts a event in so plenty of techniques on so a multitude of levels that even an off shooting night from Jokic usually won t slow down the offense at all The Nuggets are better when other guys are on fire and Joker is just the facilitator the orchestra conductor That mentioned Denver s also - all-time in postseason games in which the Jokic connects on less than of his attempts from the field On this stage the Joker requirements to focus more on drawing fouls and less on lobbying for them If OKC can make him primarily a jump-shooter the rest of this series the Nuggets are about three bricks away from Cancun Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis