Jokic says shooting woes 'a little bit of everything'

DENVER -- The metallic lining from the worst three-game shooting funk of Nikola Jokic's vocation is that the Nuggets managed to propulsion retired a triumph during that agelong -- but present their Western Conference semifinal bid with the Oklahoma City Thunder is tied 2-2 aft different uncharacteristically inefficient outing by Jokic during a 92-87 Denver loss Sunday successful Game 4.

Jokic finished with 27 points but was 7-of-22 from the level and missed a captious brace of escaped throws with the Nuggets trailing by 4 with 3:15 remaining. After a ascendant 42-point show successful the bid opener, the three-time MVP has changeable 21-of-63 (33.3%) successful the past 3 games.

According to ESPN Research, it's the archetypal clip successful Jokic's vocation that helium has changeable worse than 40% with astatine slightest 15 attempts successful 3 consecutive games, regular play oregon playoffs.

"It's a small spot of everything," said Jokic, who has a 19-to-23 assist-to-turnover ratio aft dishing retired a postseason-low 3 assists Sunday. "They're playing truly bully defence connected me. They're truly into my body, physical. I deliberation I missed 2 oregon 3 unfastened looks night, truthful it's a small spot of everything. They're shrinking the level connected me. They're having a feline down the defender, truthful it's a spot of everything. I request to bash a amended job, of course, but it's portion of the game."

Jokic's fellow MVP finalist, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, closed beardown for the archetypal clip successful the series, which continues with Game 5 connected Tuesday successful Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander had 3 buckets successful the last 4:36, which matched the Thunder's squad full successful clutch situations during their 2 losses successful the series.

"I ever consciousness similar those are the moments wherever the feline connected the squad earns his buck," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 25 points connected 8-of-19 shooting. "You gain your wealth [when] you adjacent games, you triumph games, and that's what everything's about. And the aboriginal you spell into play -- the amended the teams, the person the games -- you request to emergence to the occasion."

Jokic was 2-of-7 from the level and 1-of-4 from the escaped propulsion enactment successful the 4th quarter, erstwhile the Nuggets blew an eight-point lead.

Jokic was acold from unsocial with his shooting woes successful Game 4. The teams combined to sprout 33.5% from the floor, the worst combined tract extremity percent successful a playoff crippled since 2004, according to ESPN Research.

It was an particularly disfigured commencement to the game, which was an aboriginal day tip-off connected the heels of Denver's overtime triumph Friday night. The Thunder and Nuggets combined to people lone 25 points successful the archetypal quarter, tied for the fewest successful the archetypal 4th of a playoff crippled during the shot-clock era. Denver scored lone 8 points successful the frame, nary by Jokic.

Oklahoma City and Denver combined to miss 32 of the archetypal 33 3-point attempts, including the archetypal 16 by the Nuggets until Russell Westbrook deed 1 from the close wing, eliciting a roar from the Ball Arena crowd.

"I deliberation that some teams were precise bushed coming disconnected an unbelievably carnal overtime conflict connected a precocious Friday night," Nuggets interim manager David Adelman said. "If it affected us, it surely affected them arsenic well. Both of america had ace bushed legs."

It was the seventh crippled successful 13 days for the Nuggets, whose first-round bid against the LA Clippers went 7 games. Jokic, however, dismissed a question astir fatigue factoring into his violative struggles.

"When I play, I don't deliberation astir that," said Jokic, who played 43 minutes Sunday aft logging 44 minutes successful Game 3.

Gilgeous-Alexander coyly said helium was "not sure" however Oklahoma City had defended Jokic truthful good implicit the past fewer games.

"But we person to support doing it if we privation to win," Gilgeous-Alexander said with a smile.

Oklahoma City's antiaircraft effort against Jokic starts with halfway Isaiah Hartenstein's work. According to ESPN Research tracking, Jokic was 3-of-10 erstwhile Hartenstein was the superior defender successful Game 4.

"We're conscionable truly conscionable focused connected however to execute arsenic a team," Hartenstein said. "He's a large player. We cognize helium is going to marque pugnacious shots passim the series, but we've conscionable got to enactment disciplined. I deliberation that's the biggest key. We've been doing a large occupation staying disciplined, large occupation playing squad defense. Again, he's a large player, truthful helium is going to marque shots eventually."