Awakened ‘beast’ Nikola Jokic briefly dons head coaching hat to help Nuggets break 4-game losing streak

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets' form probed questions about their ability to stay in a playoff seeding.

Awakened ‘beast’ Nikola Jokic briefly dons head coaching hat to help Nuggets break 4-game losing streak

Nikola Jokic takes on head coaching role in Denver Nuggets win

The last few days were not what the Denver Nuggets had in mind. They fired both head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth with just three games remaining in the regular season. With the playoff position stakes higher than ever, Nikola Jokic and his teammates had to find a way to win.

Since the All-Star break, the 2023 champions have put together an alarming 11-13 record. Not the results that will help them considering the Western Conference is tighter than ever. To make matters worse, they lost four straight games.

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Those losses can be detrimental to any team’s form entering the playoffs. That is why the Kroenke’s took the difficult decision to part ways with Malone this late in the season. They did not want the turmoil inside the locker room to continue.

This meant, the Denver Nuggets would head into battle against the Sacramento Kings with the goal of winning the game. The away team took an early lead and kept it that way right. Courtside cameras picked up Nikola Jokic being right in the thick of things.

Not just as a player but donning the head coaching hat when he felt his teammates needed to understand certain differences the Kings were implementing in the game. Even when the Nuggets were in a commanding lead, Jokic ensured his teammates were aware of their gameplan.

Knowing how intelligent he is in the game of basketball, interim head coach David Adelman did not interfere whenever the Serbian was speaking. Ultimately, it seems Jokic’s instructions helped as the Denver Nuggets held on to break their four-game losing streak with a 124-116 win.

Nikola Jokic was awakened ahead of first win of April

The Denver Nuggets’ worrying form led some analysts to think that the team were a shell of their former selves. There was a time in this season where they looked like the best team in all of basketball. But cracks in their play appeared and teams took advantage of that.

Nikola Jokic was not devoid of scrutiny. Over the past few games, he was stuffing the stat sheets, but that did not result in wins. Tonight, he deferred to his teammates and that collective effort helped them win. But the Serbian believes something awoke in him tonight.

People said we are vulnerable, but the beast is always the most dangerous when they are vulnerable. Maybe he woke up the beast.

Nikola Jokic said

The three-time league MVP’s words suggest the beast inside him woke up after his head coach was let go after four straight losses. Jokic however did not go all out to try and win the game on his own. Instead. he ended up with another triple double but also ensuring that he was the pseudo coach on the court, dictating how to attack the Sacramento Kings.

Nuggets need to win final two games to stay in playoff places

With tonight’s win, the Denver Nuggets move to a 48-32 record and stand in fourth place in the West. The only problem is that five more teams have similar records and are within a game of each other. If the Denver Nuggets want to keep home court advantage and avoid the play-in tournament, they have to dig deep.

They will face the Memphis Grizzlies, another Western Conference playoff team looking to cement a playoff place on Friday, April 11th. That is a must win game, as a loss could completely turn the table around. The Grizzlies have an easier final game of the season, but need both wins to secure a playoff spot.

Then the final game of their regular season will see the Nuggets take on the Houston Rockets at their home. The problem is that there are four other games at the same time slot where Western playoff teams will be battling for the final seedings.

Nikola Jokic and his teammates cannot think of taking the foot off the gas until the final whistle sounds. Hopefully, the Rockets will give them an easy pass and rest their starters. But even that depends on how their previous game against the Los Angeles Lakers go. Therefore, the Nuggets have to awaken all the beasts inside them to win.