By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
Since David Adelman took over as interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets in early April, Nikola Jokic has been vocal, expanding from the court to additional input during timeouts.
Using his experience and basketball knowledge became viral late in the 2024-25 NBA Regular Season and during the 2025 Playoffs presented by Google, in addition to helping the Nuggets get back on track.
“A lot,” he replied to a question about how many discussions he has with Adelman about offensive and defensive plays, “Even when I see something and just ask him a question, he thinks about it. I think we have great communication.”
Avoiding elimination on Thursday, the Nuggets instead forced a Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. A do-or-die matchup for both sides will be played in Paycom Center on Sunday.
“It’s interesting,” the Serbian superstar described the best-of-seven series during a postgame press conference following Game 6 in Ball Arena, “We had the lead in the last game, and they took it at the end. I think even in Game 4, we had the lead, and they took it. This is the first game we kind of led and finished the game.”
“Hopefully, it’s going to be a close one,” he said about Game 7, referring to enjoying tight affairs.
After being limited to 36/92 field goals between Games 1 and 4, he bounced back with 26/39 makes in Games 5 and 6.
“I think we play through me a lot. People are setting screens for me, and I am setting screens. It’s a post up, catch and shoot. I think that’s the way we play. I didn’t notice, personally, but I think we probably did a lot to help us,” he answered a question about more screens building his rhythm it the two most recent contests.
Instead of playing the entire fourth quarter, as in Game 5, Jokic logged eight minutes, producing 11 points with 3/3 from the field, driving his side into a commanding position.
“Sometimes it just feels, ‘Maybe I should just play’. Sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t know. It doesn’t have a pattern,” he downplayed the potential impact on the outcome of both games.
The Game 7 winner will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West Finals, with homecourt advantage in a best-of-seven series.