Knicks seem to have Nuggets star Nikola Jokic figured out

Nikola Jokic is having a historic season.

The Denver Nuggets big man entered Wednesday night’s game against the Knicks averaging career highs in scoring with 30.0 points and assists with 10.2 while hauling down 13.1 rebounds per game. That puts him on pace to be only the third player in NBA history to average a triple double in one season, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook, who managed that feat four times and is now Jokic’s teammate.

Yet, there’s one thing that the three-time MVP just can’t get done year: Jokic just can’t find a way to beat the Knicks and his longtime nemesis, Karl-Anthony Towns.

Unless somehow both these teams make it to the NBA Finals, Jokic is going to end this season 0-2 against the Knicks. The Nuggets, who were badly beaten by the Knicks earlier in the season at Denver, came up short again Wednesday night, losing 122-112 at Madison Square Garden.

Jokic, a three-time MVP, has been a shocking non-factor in both losses.

When the Knicks handed Denver a lopsided 145-118 win in Denver in November, Jokic scored just 22 points with seven assists. That game had been explained away as an aberration by some, given that Jokic had missed the previous three games after his wife gave birth.

But this game? You have to credit the Knicks defense, which now seems to be catching up with their offense. Jokic got into foul trouble early, picking up his second personal foul with less than two minutes into the game. He was sent to the bench with 9:48 left in the first quarter and did not return until the middle of the second quarter.

The Jokic that did return looked uncharacteristically passive as he struggled to knock down shots or make much happen against a defense that not only included Towns but some aggressive defensive play from Precious Achiuwa when Towns got into foul trouble.

Jokic finished the game with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists. It marked just the third time this year that Jokic has scored under 20 points in a game and it was his second-lowest assist total this season.

“He’s one of the best players in the NBA, so it takes a team effort,” Towns said of guarding Jokic. “All I can say for me is I wanted to make it difficult on him and make him have to consistently think about the pressure we had to apply. When you are a player who is that special, you want to make it as difficult as possible. And I think that’s what our team did, just tried to make him think and second guess, which is something he doesn’t do much of.”

“He’s a tough challenge,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought a big key was Jokic getting into early foul trouble. . . . .Our bench was also terrific. I thought Precious was terrific when KAT got into foul trouble. I love the connectedness. I loved the unselfishness. I loved the hustle.”

The win was the fifth straight for the Knicks, and one of their more impressive ones of the season. The Knicks offense was the star of their two previous games as they scored 143 points in each of their wins over Sacramento and Memphis. This win was a balanced attack, the kind that makes you think that the Knicks have the ability to go deep into this postseason.

In a game where Towns and Jokic, two All-Star big man, were supposed to be the stars, it was point guard Jalen Brunson who played like the MVP. Brunson finished the game with 30 points, 15 assists and only two turnovers. OG Anunoby added 23 points.

“They’re playing really well,” Jokic said after the game. “They’re well coached, they’re pushing the pace in the halfcourt, they know what they are doing. So they are a really good team. I think they are the favorites — well, not the favorites — but I think the top-five candidates for the title.”

Top five candidates? That’s some pretty heady praise. The Knicks are really beginning to make believers out of the rest of the league with their well-balanced attack against playoff caliber teams.

“I think tonight was a great opportunity for us,” said Towns, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. “I think no one has ever judged [negatively] our offensive firepower, but I think these last couple of games we’ve been able to show execution defensively. We’re on the attack and making the teams turn the ball over.”

The Knicks hope to continue to show the league that they are a team that can win in different ways in the next couple days as they host the Lakers on Saturday and Houston on Monday.

Said Towns: “We have some good teams rolling in here and the west is difficult. We just have to continue to be a better version of ourselves.”