Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 56 points but had little to celebrate afterward.
It happened in a loss to a team that hadn’t won since October.
“I think today and the last couple games were really bad for us,” Jokic said. “We are really going in the wrong direction. I think it’s everybody’s fault.”
Jokic’s impressive performance, which also included 16 rebounds and eight assists, was wasted in a 122-113 loss on Saturday night to Washington, a team that had lost 16 games in a row.
Denver (11-10) hasn’t won two games in a row in almost a month, and now the Nuggets have lost two games straight. If the season ended now, they’d be a play-in team.
That’s why Jokic suggested a drastic solution afterward.
“In my country, where I’m coming from, after this kind of stretch, you’re going to get a paycheck that is a little bit less than you had hoped,” the Serbian star said, making the room laugh. “Maybe that’s what we need to do. Maybe a little motivation.”
The Nuggets were missing key players on Saturday, with Jamal Murray (hamstring), Aaron Gordon (calf), and Dario Saric (ankle) out with injuries. Jokic ended up taking 38 shots from the field, another career high, in an effort to lead Denver to a win.
“I was forcing at the end,” Jokic said.
His previous career high in scoring was 50 points, also in a loss, at Sacramento on February 6, 2021. Jokic scored 23 points in the third quarter — on 20 shots — against the Wizards, helping Denver cut a 12-point halftime deficit to six.
But then he rested, and Washington increased its lead back to double digits. The Wizards outscored Denver by eight when Jokic was on the bench and by one when he was playing.
“We have a lot of issues, mainly on the defensive end of the floor,” said coach Mike Malone.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 39 points, including nine 3-pointers. The Wizards also had more balance than Denver. Justin Champagnie scored a career-high 23 points, and Jonas Valanciunas matched up with Jokic inside, finishing with 20 points.
Malone took responsibility for the loss.
“I’m doing a really poor job with this team,” he said. “For us to be 11-10 at this point and losing to a team that in the last five games is averaging 100 points a game and they put up 122 on us — I’m embarrassed by that.”
