May 17, 2023 By: Woody Paige

Woody Paige: Nikola Jokic silences doubters in Game 1 triumph over Lakers

Joker’s wild.

In Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, Nikola Jokic finished with 34 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists and two blocks — and finished the game with 3 of 4 free throws and 1 significant steal.

Molly Brown, whose former home is just several blocks away from The Jar, was unsinkable. Nikola Jokic has been unstoppable, unbelievable and unrelenting in the postseason.

The Nuggets finally and barely sunk the Lakers Tuesday night at Ball Arena.

We got us a serious series.

Even though the Nuggets played as perfectly as they desired for much of the evening, the Lakers refused to capitulate. After trailing by as much as 21 points L.A. was one 3-pointer away from tying the score with less than 1 minute remaining and forcing the game possibly into overtime, or winning in a miraculous comeback, but the Nuggets hung on like a cat on a hot tin roof and survived.

The sensational Serb, who didn’t three-peat the MVP trophy, did earn the Most Valuable Person award in the opener as the Nuggets have a 7-0 record at home in the playoffs. The Lakers obviously went away thinking they can steal one in Denver. The Nuggets experienced high anxiety when they normally have opponents on fumes in the fourth.

With 1:12 left LeBron James, the ageless marvel, made two fouls shots to slice the Nuggets’ lead to 129-126. After Kentavious Caldwell-Pope missed from beyond the arc James had control of the ball with 46 seconds showing on a fully functional set of clocks in the arena. Yet, his 27-foot jumper was not good, and the Nuggets got the rebound. At the other end Anthony Davis fouled Jokic, who converted both free throws.

Following a Lakers’ timeout, James was the man on a mission again and was guarded in the paint by Jamal Murray in what had been a mismatch throughout the final period. But Murray slapped the ball away, and a scrum developed. Jokic secured the ball.

The Lakers had to foul guess who? Jokic was errant on the first, successful on the second, and the Nuggets were up with 10.2 seconds by six. The Lakers used another timeout, then James tried another 3-pointer from 30 feet. It was off, and the Nuggets’ celebration was on.

Game 2 is Thursday.

Joker will have to be even wilder.

He admitted afterward than even though the Nuggets dominated in the first half they didn’t play well in the second half. Especially on defense. After Jokic reached his sixth triple-double of the playoffs midway through the third quarter, the Nuggets seemed to self-destruct, and Jokic had more issues offensively when the Nuggets shifted Davis off him and put reserve power forward Rui Hachimura right in his grill.

Nobody could stop Jokic in the first half. In his 20 minutes he had 19 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, and Jamal Murray contributed 17 points and Bruce Brown was only one point short of the Lakers’ three reserves with 14 points.

After a sluggish start by the Lakers and Davis, the center ended up with 40 points and 10 rebounds, and James was just one assist shy of his own triple-double.

But, as the Nuggets did against the Timberwolves and the Suns, Jokic received plenty of help from Murray, Caldwell-Pope, Brown, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon.

Five aces.

But the Lakers wouldn’t fold as they were supposed to. They kept creeping closer after an 11-2 run in the third quarter and decreased the advantage to under 10 — and eventually would score 35 points in the final 12 minutes.

It would take every bit of the Nuggets totaling 130-plus points to fend off the Lakers.

Jokic, as usual, was the difference with his new haircut and his old philosophy of ball.

However, if the Nuggets let Davis and James be Devin Booker and Kevin Durant in the early section of the previous series, six more games could be ahead in the Wild Wild West.

The Joker must be the wildest. Like Molly Brown.