Nikola Jokic's 41-point game not enough as the Nuggets lose to the Clippers

Two days after Nikola Jokic bluntly said the Nuggets were “not a good shooting team,” he tried to take matters into his own hands.

His 41 points and seven 3-pointers, the most of his career, were enough to erase an 18-point deficit, but not enough to take Denver's late lead in a 109-104 loss to the Clippers on Saturday in the Defend ball arena. With 14 seconds left, the Nuggets trailed by three, and Jokic tried to get a look at the top of the key, but he leaned into his shot and couldn't make contact while missing to the left due to a lack of balance.

Norman Powell scored 22 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter on 8 of 9 shooting, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 53 seconds left. And James Harden scored 12 of his 23 points at the free throw line, including two that gave Los Angeles the lead for good with 31 seconds left. Michael Malone unsuccessfully blocked Aaron Gordon's foul, and Jokic missed a free throw and had a chance to tie the game 10 seconds later – an ironic twist that ended his great night, which began with Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon came to him for a photo op with his third MVP trophy.

“Norman Powell kicked our butt in the fourth period. … We continued to foul jump shooters. There’s a lack of discipline,” Malone said. “This is worrying because the same people keep making the same mistakes. And if someone is considered an outlier, we can't let them continue to shoot threes. … But like I told our team, when someone has a fourth quarter like that, it's up to me to make sure we do something to get the ball out of their hands. And I didn't do that. So I take responsibility for it and have to do a better job.”

After their worst 3-point shooting game of the Malone era (7 for 39), the Nuggets were on pace to outdo themselves early. They made just nine of their first 39 total field throws and shot 5-for-19 in the first half, outscoring them 30-10 in the lane.

“I know everyone says, 'Take shots!' But I felt before that our spacing was terrible at times,” Malone had told reporters 90 minutes before tipoff. “I mean, I just put the guys in the corner. Open the dish. Use the entire depth and width of the playing field. We’re getting more organized, especially with our second unit.”

Unlike Thursday, when Westbrook and Julian Strawther replaced Murray and Christian Braun as Denver's first subs, this time Strawther checked in alone – for Michael Porter Jr. Despite this immediate adjustment to Malone's rotations, the second unit dug a hole and was clearly struggling the chemistry and where on the floor should be positioned. Clippers center Ivica Zubac enjoyed the smaller lineup and scored 24 points and 15 rebounds.

When Murray joined Porter on a double relay early in the second quarter, the lineup was winning its minutes by a point and executing its actions better — but still, no one was buying anything. The starting unit didn't help. The low point came at 4:57 of the half when Malone called a timeout trailing 42-24.

Outside of this break? Threes in a row for Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Jokic, who do half the job in 80 seconds. The starters came through halftime trailing 48-42 and the third quarter looked more like a normal Nuggets game. Ten of their first 12 points came in the paint. They created easy shots from close range without much difficulty and initially struggled to keep up because their defense wasn't quite up to par with their offense.

“We’re going to make missed shots and make shots,” said Jamal Murray, who scored 22 points on 14 field goal attempts. “We can miss three hits in one throw. We can do three in a row. I think everyone saw how everyone misses and how everyone does. But it really just comes down to energy and effort and how consistent we can be as a group in defense and how we can convert the turnovers we force into quick break points.”