By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic doesn’t want to get rid of the feeling of disappointment from his team’s 70 – 115 blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Instead, he believes he and his teammates should use these emotions and learn from this tough lesson to react appropriately in the upcoming knockout Game 7 that will take place in Denver.
“I think we shouldn’t,” Jokic said when asked how can the Nuggets wash away this kind of performance. “We need to let it sink in. It’s a big loss. They destroyed us. We should learn from it. You need to respect it.”
“Actually, we had them 9-2. Didn’t look good for them in that period,” he joked for a moment. “After that, it was a one-team show”
What followed that 9 – 2 score was a 27 – 2 run by the Timberwolves that pushed the Nuggets way behind. Minnesota went on to lead 59 – 40 at halftime and completely crushed their opponents in the fourth period.
Jokic, who finished with 22 points (on 9-19 shots) and nine rebounds, spent much of that final quarter standing. He commented that he did that in order to “stay fit to lift.”
“They beat our ass… they were better than us in every segment of the game,” Jokic admitted. “We have to accept it. Take it and try to be better next time. When you lose by 45, it is not something that happens every day. Just accept it. I’m cool with it.”