Boykins: Nuggets can’t win with how Jokic played in Game 1 vs. Spurs
Apr 15, 2019, 8:00 AM | Updated: 8:30 am
Nikola Jokic (15) of the Denver Nuggets takes a breather against the San Antonio Spurs during the third quarter of the Spurs' 101-96 win on Saturday, April 13, 2019. The Denver Nuggets hosted the San Antonio Spurs during game one of the teams' first round NBA playoffs series at the Pepsi Center. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
(Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
In 36 minutes for the Denver Nuggets in a Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, Nikola Jokic managed to put up a triple-double, with 10 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists.
But on Sunday, speaking with Orlando Franklin and John Davis, former Nuggets guard and 104.3 The Fan analyst Earl Boykins called Jokic’s accomplishment “empty.”
“He really had no effect on the game, offensively or defensively, and the Nuggets, they can’t win with him playing the way that he’s playing,” Boykins said.
In the playoffs, a team’s star players should “step up,” Boykins said, and in Jokic’s case, he allowed San Antonio to “make him a passer because that’s what he wanted to do: pass the ball.”
“I just believe, going into the game, he has to have an aggressive mindset,” Boykins said.
When the Spurs double-teamed Jokic, Boykins said he decided he was going to “just pass the ball.”
“And after a little while, they wouldn’t even double-team him because he was never aggressive,” Boykins said. “And if the Nuggets, if they want to win, he has to become more of a scorer than he was (Saturday) night.”
On the night, Jokic only attempted nine field goals, making four, while going 0-for-3 from behind the arc.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
