New father of two Nikola Jokic doesn't miss a beat in return to Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokic came back like he never left.

I think a lot of guys exhaled because Nikola was back and expected Superman to carry the day.

Thats not fair, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after his teams 123-120 loss to the Mavericks on Friday, Jokics first game back with the team.

Do your own job.

Everybodys got to do their job.

Nikola, obviously, showed once again why hes the best player in the world.

Jokics job has been to do it all for the Nuggets through the 11 games hes played, and he continued to be up to the task after missing three games to make sure he was present for the birth of his second child.

His family grew to four with the arrival of a young son on Thursday night.

Everything is good, Jokic said, providing a brief update.

Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook provides clutch assist to Denver's foundations' Feed-A-Family event Despite having more than a week between games, Jokic posted his fifth consecutive triple-double with 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.

Only seven players have posted five consecutive triple-doubles.

Jokics seventh triple-double of the season boosted his averages to 30 points, 14 rebounds and 11.5 assists ahead of Saturday nights game against the Lakers in Los Angeles.

It felt good, Jokic said of being back.

The early favorite to win a fourth Most Valuable Player award in the last five seasons did watch Denvers three games without him.

Its different, of course, Jokic said of watching his teammates from afar.

I play most of the games, so it was weird and different.

Its just different.

Jokic added that he didnt feel the team should play a different style when hes not in uniform.

Taking much from the games he watched from home is also a challenge given the heavy workload he shoulders.

Hes played fewer than 35 minutes in just one game this season, the 26-point win over the Jazz on Nov.

2.

Im involved in a lot of things, so its really hard to say, Jokic said.

Maybe if I looked at myself.

Nuggets vs.

Mavericks: 3 takeaways from Denver's second NBA Cup loss The reflection in the mirror somehow reveals the best version of Jokic to date.

He leads the league in rebounding and 3-point percentage, while ranking second in assists and third in scoring.

(He) misses a week of basketball, three games, and he goes out and gets a triple-double, Malone said.

Obviously, a great game for him, but its never about the individual.

We, as a collective unit, myself included, didnt get the job done.

Jokic had the opportunity to extend his streak to six straight triple-doubles in Saturdays late tipoff in Los Angeles.

It sucks, but we are not going to die about it, Jokic said after Denver dropped to 1-2 in NBA Cup group-stage games.

We have tomorrow.

We have the next game.

I think our focus needs to be on our next game..

This article has been shared from the original article on gazette, here is the link to the original article.