“We tricked ourselves” – Nikola Jokic shuts down hype around Nuggets’ 9-0 win streak

Nikola Jokic reflects on the Nuggets' recent nine-game winning streak following a tough home loss to their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers

“We tricked ourselves” – Nikola Jokic shuts down hype around Nuggets’ 9-0 win streak

Nikola Jokic thinks maybe they tricked themselves after a tough loss

After the Lakers handed the Denver Nuggets their first defeat in February, they stopped them in their tracks on their way to their first 10-game streak under coach Mike Malone. After the game, the team reflected on their loss with an introspective lens, and, as usual, their leader, Nikola Jokic, took full responsibility.

Joker talked to reporters post-game, and when Denver writer Brendan Vogt probed him about how he thinks his squad stacks up against teams with winning records, the Serbian center candidly admitted that maybe they got cocky after winning against poor teams and believed they were playing great when they weren’t—just maybe.

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We had a nine-game winning streak against teams that were injured and teams that were not good or high in the standings. Maybe, we tricked ourselves in that we are playing good.

Nikola Jokic after the loss

Furthermore, Jokic admitted that Lakers played without any fear and their “gamble” worked. He also touched on how the team has to work on curbing its turnovers. They gave up 35 points off of turnovers while only putting up 9 in return.

The 6’11” big man had a rusty shooting hand and struggled to get into rhythm throughout the game. He shot 2-of-7 from the field and missed his only three-point attempt. Although he was able to add another triple-double to the scoreboard with his 10 assists and 13 rebounds, it was a low-scoring affair—only 12 points. Jokic now has 26 triple-doubles this season in just 51 games played so far.

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After the game, Mike Malone also bluntly stated that his side was “outplayed” and “outcoached” in Saturday’s 123-100 blowout. This was certainly true in the sense that four of the Lakers’ starters were able to bully them and score 20-plus. Here’s what the Nuggets’ head coach had to say:

I felt they were just a lot more physical and lot more aggressive than we were……we were outplayed tonight; we were out coached tonight.

Mike Malone said post-game

Besides allowing four of their opponents to score 20-plus, the team also had 20 turnovers, only six steals in total, and a single block, in contrast to the Lakers’ nine. As of now, the Nuggets are 9-1 in their last 10 head-to-head battles against the Lakers and have gotten the best of them in the last couple of seasons. However, it seems like basketball is entering into a new phase with Luka Doncic leading the Lakers into a new era. Let’s clean the slate and start with 1-0.