David Adelman had words of encouragement and praise for Nikola Djokic despite his inefficient filming night in Game 3.
Nikola Djokic scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, but struggled to shoot the ball when it went 8-25 off the field.
MVP Frontrunner failed to create a single 3-pointer in the 10 attempts he made over the ARC.
Despite his off-night, the Denver Nuggets managed to win a 113-104 victory in overtime. That means they have a 2-1 lead in the series.
After the game, the interim head coach of the Nuggets came out and showed his support for Jokic, encouraging the three-time MVP to continue shooting the ball.
NBA fans were treated to a fantastic jokick performance with the OKC Thunder in Game 1.
However, he hasn’t looked great since he filmed a total of 14-41 from the field, combining only 37 in the next two games.
The interim coach addressed the concerns and advised MVP frontrunner Jokic to continue shooting more of the ball.
Adelman said:
“The ball is coming to him that night or efficiency, and I am sure it is frustrating.
“When you’re one of the most efficient players that have played such an efficient and undoubtedly the most efficient players that have played a sport, I understand why he’s frustrated.
“But Game 4 comes and he’s about to touch it millions of times. I hope he shoots it all the time and plays for others.”
Jokic was undoubtedly one of the best players in the NBA, and he ended up a great regular season, averaging triple doubles in the end.
However, the playoffs were another ball game and he had a great Game 1 in the series, but games 2 and 3 were not great for Jokic.
Statistically, he looked better, but he shot a ball that was barely efficient and committed a lot of sales.
What made this postseason different from Jokic was his vocal leadership.
He coaches the team during the timeout and Christian Brown revealed that Jokic is saying to the team to encourage them.
Early in the playoffs, Jokic called out Michael Porter Jr. after playing a poor game.
Now, Michael Malone’s firing certainly has a big role to play in this, but it’s great to see Jokic show off his passion for the game.
There are players like Russell Westbrook and Aaron Gordon, the great leaders of the locker room.
However, since he is a star of the team, it is important that Jokic becomes the vocalist and call out the players if they don’t live up to their expectations.