NBA
Nikola Jokic’s playoff career-high 53 points were not enough to beat Phoenix, the 4th-most points in a loss in NBA playoff history
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated08 May 2023
Home-court advantage is a real thing in the playoffs and we have seen that unfold in this series. The Nuggets took Games 1 and 2 at home and Phoenix won Games 3 and 4. Nikola Jokic recorded a playoff career-high 53 points last night. However, it wasn’t enough to beat the Suns as they lost 128-124 in regulation. It’s the 4th-most points in a loss in NBA playoff history.
The Denver Nuggets were carried by Nikola Jokic all game long and the offense was being controlled by the two-time MVP. He only had 4 rebounds, but he had a playoff career-high 53 points and also dished out 11 assists. Besides Jamal Murray’s 28 points, the rest of Denver’s offense was quiet.
Game 5 will be back in Denver on Tuesday night. NBA betting sites have the Nuggets at (-200) to win Game 5 at home. The game will tip-off at 10:00 pm EST.
Nikola Jokic's 53-pts are the 4th-most in a loss in NBA playoff history.
It's also the most in a regulation loss in playoff history. pic.twitter.com/hHE4GHtDa5
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 8, 2023
Nikola Jokic’s 53-points were not enough to get a win in Game 4 for the Denver Nuggets
The Nuggets could have walked away with a win last night if it weren’t for their poor shooting from deep. As a team, Denver went 7-22 (.318) percent from deep and no player had more than two threes made. A majority of those misses came from Michael Porter Jr. who only scored 11 points and went 2-9 from deep in 41 minutes played.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined for 81 of the Nuggets’ 124 points last night, (.653) percent. The other three starters all played at least 34 minutes last night and combined for 31 points total. Denver’s bench recorded just 11 points last night as well. Jokic did everything he could to try and get a win in Game 4.
Expect to see Denver look more polished heading into Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Nuggets have two home games left in the Western Conference Semi-finals and want to get back to the WCF. Denver hasn’t been there since the 2019-20 season in the NBA bubble.
