DENVER – The beauty of Nikola Jokić is his all-around dominance. He began this season as one of the best scorers in basketball. But he was also the best passer and the best rebounder in basketball. His all-around skill set is the common thread that keeps the Denver Nuggets alive in the Western Conference. This is one of the main reasons why he is one of the early candidates for another MVP award, which would be his fourth.

However, sometimes the Nuggets need him to put the ball in the basket. They need him to get up the field and make shots, especially when the rest of the Nuggets offense is at a standstill.

What makes Jokić so endearing is that he is often hesitant to do so and is often selfless. But when the Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors 119-115 at Ball Arena on Tuesday night, Jokić didn’t have much of a choice. Denver trailed the Warriors by as many as 12 points in the first half. Shoulders sagged on the Denver sideline. There were moments where the shots weren’t going in and it was difficult to stop the defense.

But if the first half was a grind for Denver, the second half was a sprint. The Nuggets landed headfirst on the floor and showed emotion after positive plays. They scored the last 10 points of the game and 13 of the last 15 points.

The wake-up call was Jokić. He finished the game with 38 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. He dropped 24 of those points in the second half and grabbed six of those rebounds after halftime. Think about it. Jokić managed 24 and six in the second half, more than most NBA players do in an entire game. He made 14 of his 24 field shots. He made three of his four attempts from 3-point range. There were post-ups and floaters and jumpers and layups off the pick-and-roll. And on defense, Jokić worked almost as hard as he has all season in pick-and-roll coverage against Golden State superstar Stephen Curry.

“The goal just happened tonight,” said Jokić. “I don’t go into games just to score a goal. Tonight it just happened, for some reason.”

Are you losing 38 points and need a playoff-level defensive performance? The Nuggets don’t want to have to extend Jokić like this every night. But it was a wounded and hungry Denver team. This was a team that needed a win and they played like it.

“That’s the type of effort that’s needed,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “We were down 113-106 with three minutes left and found a way to end the game. It wasn’t pretty, but in this league it won’t always be pretty. We had really good performances tonight. But when you see Nikola do what he did offensively and then fend off pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll against Curry on defense, it makes an impact.”

Jokić’s offense had an electrifying effect on the rest of his teammates. On most nights, Denver’s offense is much more evenly matched than it was on Tuesday. But the Nuggets couldn’t get past Jokić for most of the game. Jamal Murray went 4 of 12 from the field. Michael Porter Jr. was great most of the night, scoring 22 points, but his points usually came from Jokić or Murray setting the table for him. He is not a primary creator, especially off the dribble.

Combine that with the Warriors’ decision to rely on single coverage against Jokić for most of the evening, and the stage is set for a big-scoring game. One of Jokić’s great strengths is his sense of how the defense is playing against him and the ability to adapt to it. Golden State sent a few double teams on him. But for the most part, the Warriors opted to guard him directly, usually with Kevon Looney.

“He always makes the right play,” Murray said. “But sometimes we just need him to be aggressive and look for his attack. This year he kind of made up for everyone and had to be aggressive. He will still make the right play. But he definitely scores more.”

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Malone liked the Nuggets’ energy. There have been too many losses and too many wins this season despite being listless defensively. The problems with Denver’s defense this season have been many. The defense at the point of attack was not good. The defense defending the basket wasn’t great.

Aaron Gordon’s absence with a calf injury didn’t help. The integration of Russell Westbrook and Julian Strawther as new rotation players also took some time. On Tuesday, however, the Nuggets were as good in the bag as they have been all season. When they needed defensive stops, they got them. When they needed a loose ball, they came up with this one. Even when Denver made mistakes, they were mistakes that involved effort. Malone can live with mistakes like that.

Never give up pic.twitter.com/NjL40vukM2

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) December 4, 2024

On the other hand, Malone had to play 40 minutes against Jokić. That’s five minutes more than any other player in the game. And only four players logged up to 34 minutes. In the eight minutes Jokić sat, the Nuggets were outscored by 19 points. With him on the floor, Denver won those minutes by 23 points.

Denver without Jokić on the floor has been a running joke for years. But this season it’s even more pronounced and the Nuggets just have to find a way to fix it. Denver shouldn’t have to ride Jokić for 40 minutes to get a home win in the first week of December. If that has to happen, there are gaps in the squad elsewhere.

But those are topics and conversations for another time.

“I felt like our guys were all about the right things tonight,” Malone said. “They weren’t perfect for 48 minutes, but nobody is. I liked that the guys supported each other. They cheered each other on the bench. They held each other accountable. So I thought tonight was a step in the right direction.”

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(Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)