DENVER — After the Denver Nuggets‘ best season in a decade came to an end, Nikola Jokic took the blame for the Game 7 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite having 29 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, Jokic pointed the finger at himself for the 100-96 loss at home for missing 7 of 10 shots in the fourth quarter and the front end of two free throws with 11.4 seconds remaining and Denver down three.
“They look at me as a leader, they look at me as their best player,” Jokic explained afterward. “So yeah, I missed those free throws near the end and in the Portland game we went to four overtimes, I missed a lot of other shots and I’m supposed to make some of those.”
In his first postseason, Jokic emerged as the best big man in the NBA playoffs. He averaged 24.8 points, 13.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists and there were times when San Antonio and Portland didn’t have an answer for the 7-footer.
“I got Nikola Jokic in there taking blame for the loss!” Denver coach Michael Malone said moments after Game 7. “It’s not his fault. This was a group effort. I think the cumulative effect of 14 playoff games, and us asking him to do as much as we asked him to do, finally took its toll on him tonight.”
Jokic had four triple-doubles, including 33 points, 18 rebounds and 14 assists in a four-overtime loss in Game 3 that saw the big man play 65 minutes — the most playoff minutes in the shot clock era.
“I hope that after 14 playoff games, America, everybody around the world that watches the playoffs, really came to appreciate Nikola’s game,” Malone said. “Playoff debut, almost averaged a triple-double in 14 games, and was playing close to 40 minutes a night. He’s arguably the best big man in the NBA.”
The Nuggets shot just 2-for-19 from 3-point range in Game 7 and Jokic was the only Nugget to make the two 3-pointers. Jamal Murray shot 4-for-18 and finished with 17 points while Gary Harris made 7 of 11 shots and scored 15 points.
The Nuggets will go into the offseason with the bitter taste of not being able to get to the Western Conference finals despite being up 3-2 and with Game 7 on their home floor.
“You want to look at it in a positive way, but it’s tough when you know you can beat a team and you lose,” Murray said. “It’s just tough.”