Top seed in West not a priority
Nikola Jokic appeared energized and enthusiastic on the court Thursday night while posting one of the most impressive stat lines of his career in Denver’s first game back from the All-star break. Don’t be fooled.
After a milestone tripledouble and a 130-110 romp of the Wizards, Jokic answered with a firm “no” when asked if he felt sufficiently rested entering the final third of the regular season.
Will the Nuggets’ only All-star try to get some of that rest back by sitting out any upcoming games?
“We will see,” Jokic said Thursday night before flying to Portland for a backto-back. “Maybe. Hopefully. Or not.”
His wish is (maybe, hopefully, or not) Michael Malone’s command. With four teams jockeying for position atop the Western Conference standings, the ninth-year Nuggets coach is more interested in a different win-loss record as he begins to navigate the home stretch.
Going into Friday night’s game, Denver is 25-8 when all five starters play and 1211 when at least one is absent.
“For me, (the top seed) is not a top one or two priority, to be very honest,” Malone said Wednesday.
“We talked about that with our team today. The good thing is Minnesota is No. 1. We play them three more times. We’re three games out (of first place). So we have avenues to become the No. 1 team. It’s definitely attainable. But I don’t want to win that battle and lose the bigger war. … I think having home court in the first round is very, very important. I think having a healthy team going into the postseason is very important. And if we happen to be the No. 1 seed, that’s just a cherry on top. But we’re not gonna put all our cards in just to attain that and to risk being healthy for a very deep playoff run.”
That leaves Jokic with some liberty to ask for a day off if he needs one (or more) in the final 26 games. “I have a good communication with Coach and the training staff, so we will see,” he said. As for the player perspective on Malone’s comments, Jokic also minimized the remaining regular-season games in relation to the playoffs, when his minutes and physical demand will increase.
“My opinion is you need to be just the best version of yourself in the playoffs,” he said. “If you’re a top seed and you’re not playing good, I think that’s not good and you will lose in the first round. Especially how last year was really tough. Nobody wants the Lakers in the first round or Golden State in the first round.”
Malone indicated Thursday that he still intends to use a nine-man rotation until the playoffs, with Julian Strawther and Justin Holiday generally on the outside looking in, barring injuries. But injuries are precisely what Denver wants to avoid. Kentavious Caldwell-pope’s jammed finger in the first quarter against Washington was an abrupt reminder of that.
“Make sure we’re not getting caught up in emotional decisions, game-bygame decisions,” Malone said. “We have to have the ability to take a big-picture approach to 27 games and realize, I’m not really as concerned with what seed we are. I’m much more concerned with getting all of our players to the finish line healthy, knowing if we are healthy going into the postseason, I have the utmost confidence that this team can go into any building in the entire NBA and win a series.
“And if we’re not healthy, I don’t have that same confidence.”