Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, is defended by Washington Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, center, and guard Carlton Carrington (8) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 56 points and had little to celebrate afterward.
It happened in a loss — to a team that hadn’t won since October.
“I think today and the last couple games were really bad for us,” Jokic said. “We are really going in the wrong direction. I think it’s everybody’s fault.”
If Jokic had any excitement over an astounding stat line that also included 16 rebounds and eight assists, he didn’t show it. His efforts were wasted in a 122-113 loss Saturday night to a Washington team that had lost 16 games in a row.
Denver (11-10) hasn’t won back-to-back games in nearly a month, and now the Nuggets have lost two in a row. If the season ended now, they’d be a play-in team.
No wonder Jokic offered a particularly drastic solution afterward.
“In my country, where I’m coming from, after this kind of stretch, you’re going to get paycheck that is a little bit less than you had hoped,” the Serbian star said, drawing a laugh. “Maybe that’s what we need to do. Maybe a little motivation.”
The Nuggets were not at full strength Saturday, with Jamal Murray (hamstring), Aaron Gordon (calf) and Dario Saric (ankle) out with injuries. Jokic ended up attempting 38 shots from the field — also a career high — as he tried to carry Denver to a win.
“I was forcing at the end,” he said.
His previous career high in scoring was 50 — also in a loss, at Sacramento on Feb. 6, 2021. Jokic scored 23 points — on 20 shots — in the third quarter against the Wizards as Denver cut a 12-point halftime deficit to six.
Then he took a rest and Washington pushed the lead back into double digits. The Wizards outscored Denver by eight when Jokic was out and by one when he was in the game.
“We have a lot of issues, mainly on the defensive end of the floor,” coach Mike Malone said.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 39 points, including nine 3-pointers, but the Wizards also had balance that Denver lacked. Justin Champagnie scored a career-high 23 and Jonas Valanciunas banged with Jokic inside and finished with 20 points.
Malone put the blame on himself.
“I’m doing a really poor job with this team,” he said. “For us to be 11-10 at this point and losing to a team that last five games is averaging a hundred points a game and they put up 122 on us — I’m embarrassed by that.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Sports Writer
