Nikola Jokić scored a career-high 56 points and had little to celebrate afterward.
It happened with a loss – against a team that hadn’t won since October.
“I think today and the last few games were very bad for us,” Jokić said. “We are really going in the wrong direction. I think it’s everyone’s fault.”
If Jokić had any excitement about an astonishing stat line that also included 16 rebounds and eight assists, he didn’t show it. His efforts were wasted Saturday night in a 122-113 loss to a Washington team that had lost 16 straight games.
Denver (11-10) hasn’t won back-to-back games in almost a month, and now the Nuggets have lost two in a row. If the season ended now, they would be a play-in team.
No wonder Jokić then offered a particularly drastic solution.
“In my country, where I come from, after this kind of stuff you get a salary that is a little less than you hoped for,” the Serbian star said, laughing. “Maybe that’s what we should do. Maybe a little motivation.”
The Nuggets were not at full strength on Saturday, as Jamal Murray (hamstring), Aaron Gordon (calf) and Dario Saric (ankle) were out with injuries. Jokić ultimately attempted 38 shots from the field – also a career-high – as he tried to lead Denver to victory.
“I forced it at the end,” he said.
His previous career high was 50 – also in a loss, in Sacramento on February 6, 2021. Jokić scored 23 points – on 20 shots – in the third quarter against the Wizards as Denver cut a 12-point halftime deficit to six.
Then he rested and Washington pushed the lead back to double digits. The Wizards beat Denver by eight when Jokić was out and by one when he was in the game.
“We have a lot of issues, especially on the defensive end of the court,” coach Mike Malone said.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 39 points, including nine 3-pointers, but the Wizards also had a poise that Denver lacked. Justin Champagnie scored a career-high 23 and Jonas Valanciunas batted in with Jokić to finish with 20 points.
Malone blamed himself.
“I’m doing really bad with this team,” he said. “If we are 11-10 right now and lose to a team that has played the last five games, that means an average of a hundred points per game and they put 122 points on us. I’m ashamed of that.”