Nikola Jokic's struggles continue in Nuggets' Game 4 loss - ESPN

DENVER — The silver lining from the worst three-game shooting funk of Nikola Jokic's career is that the Nuggets managed to pull out a win during that stretch — but now their Western Conference semifinal series with the Oklahoma City Thunder is tied 2-2 after another uncharacteristically inefficient outing by Jokic during a 92-87 Denver loss Sunday in Game 4.

Jokic finished with 27 points but was 7-of-22 from the floor and missed a critical pair of free throws with the Nuggets trailing by four with 3:15 remaining. After a dominant 42-point performance in the series opener, the three-time MVP has shot 21-of-63 (33.3%) in the past three games.

According to ESPN Research, it's the first time in Jokic's career that he has shot worse than 40% with at least 15 attempts in three consecutive games, regular season or playoffs.

«It's a little bit of everything,» said Jokic, who has a 19-to-23 assist-to-turnover ratio after dishing out a postseason-low three assists Sunday. «They're playing really good defense on me. They're really into my body, physical. I think I missed two or three open looks night, so it's a little bit of everything. They're shrinking the floor on me. They're having a guy behind the defender, so it's a bit of everything. I need to do a better job, of course, but it's part of the game.»

Jokic's fellow MVP finalist, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, closed strong for the first time in the series, which continues with Game 5 on Tuesday in Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander had three buckets in the final 4:36, which matched the Thunder's team total in clutch situations during their two losses in the series.

«I always feel like those are the moments where the guy on the team earns his buck,» said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored