“Malone Had to Beg Him” – Nikola Jokic’s Aggression in Game 5 a Rare but Possibly Game-Changing Sight, Says Mark Jackson

The Denver Nuggets lost the first two games of the conference semifinals and made a roaring comeback to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in 3 back-to-back games. Before the game, Nikola Jokic was presented with the 2023-2024 MVP trophy which he accepted in his nonchalant manner. He dominated against the 4X and reigning DPOY Rudy Gobert, who said after the game that “He was in the zone,” about Jokic. The same sentiment was echoed by Mark Jackson who believed that Jokic had already made his mind up to be aggressive in the game. “But you got a guy whose mind was made up to be an aggressive scorer.”

On the 50th Episode of the Mark Jackson Show, Mark Jackson discussed the Nuggets’ crucial game 5 win, on the Come And Talk 2 Me YouTube Channel alongside his son Bluu and spoke about the domination of the Joker. With no major fault of Gobert, Jackson felt Jokic picked the Wolves apart not only as a scorer but as a facilitator too. He also spoke about the time when coach Michael Malone would beg Jokic to be more aggressive.

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You know there’s been times in the past when coach Malone would beg him to be aggressive offensively,” speaking how the center likes to operate passively by looking at options rather than jumping for opportunities. “I even thought tonight as aggressive as he was there was times he was trying to hand it off to Jamal Murray or KCP off the handoff and let that action play out his patience.“

Moving forward Mark Jackson believes that Jokic should continue playing aggressively. “

Sometimes you don’t want greatness to be patience sometimes you want greatness to be greatness.”

Wolves had no answer to Jokic domination

Rudy Gobert after the game said to the media that he tried blocking a couple of shots but somehow failed. Then, spoke about Jokic’s sixteen-point third quarter that sparked a 23-8 run for the Nuggets. Gobert added,”

He was incredible in the quarter put the team on his back.”

Just like Gobert,

Anthony Edwards gave his flowers to the MVP. “I just laugh. That’s all I can do. I mean, I can’t be mad. Because he’s good, man. … He’s the best player in the game … He was special tonight. I got to give him his props.”

Will the Wolves find a way to keep the MVP quiet or will he once again deliver his previous match performance of 40 points, 13 assists, 7 rebounds, and 0 turnovers?