Inside The Nuggets

Nikola Jokic Makes Brutally Honest Admission About Denver Nuggets

Jokic spoke on the Nuggets after their loss to the OKC Thunder.

Joey Linn

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ball Arena.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during the second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ball Arena. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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The Denver Nuggets dropped their season opener to the OKC Thunder on Thursday. It was not an encouraging performance for the Nuggets, who scored just 87 points in a rough offensive showing.

The three-point shooting was especially poor for Denver, as they converted on just seven of their 38 three-point attempts (18.4 percent). Losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency was a big loss for the Nuggets, as he was a 41.5 percent three-point shooter in his two seasons in Denver.

“Going into the season, shooting was a concern of mine,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said after the game. “You lose a guy like KCP, who's a 40 percent three-point shooter."

Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic made a brutally honest admission about his team’s shooting after this game.

“We are not a good shooting team, except Mike and Jamal,” Jokic said. “All of us are kind of streaky, not streaky, but just average shooters."

There is certainly a lack of shooting on this Nuggets roster compared to previous iterations, but they also shot far worse against OKC than they are capable of shooting.

Denver’s bench had just one made three, which came from Russell Westbrook who went 1/6 from beyond the arc. While it was a rough opening game for the Nuggets, they have an opportunity to bounce back when they face the LA Clippers on Saturday.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn52@gmail.com Education: Communication Studies degree from Biola University Location: Los Angeles, California Expertise: NBA analysis and reporting Experience: Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.

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