NBA Finals: Nikola Jokic on scoring 41 points and still losing game 2 to the Miami Heat

Nicola, Mike Singer, Denver Post. Malone said he was surprised that you guys were, he was talking about effort in the postgame locker room. Are you, how concerned are you that effort is even in question at this stage of the season? I mean, yes, of course. That's, that's gonna be a question. But, we just didn't play well the right way in the fourth quarter. We scored 20 points, 12 points, they scored 29. Oh, no, this isn't good. Can you have it? Yeah. That didn't sound right. Yes, of course. They scored 36 points in the fourth quarter. That's too much, of course, and they got a couple of rebounds. It was just, it was just, happened to be like that. Back right, second to last row. Nicola, Jacob Tobey with 9 News. How disappointing is it to lose at home for the first time in the playoffs? I mean, we didn't want it to happen, of course, but it happened, so we're gonna live with it. We are going to Miami to play another game, so. Michael, over here on the left. Michael Pena, The Ringer. Nicola, you had a playoff low four assists tonight. Was that because of something Miami was doing defensively, or were your teammates just missing shots? Probably, no. I don't think, I don't think about assists or whatever. To be honest, I don't know the answer. Hmm, I was just playing, I was just playing, and I don't think, I don't think when I'm playing about the stats or whatever. Brandon, on the right. Nicola, I'm Brandon Kristol, KOA here in Denver. Coach talked about effort, and then Jamal said it was more discipline. How do you get that corrected, I guess, in short order before Wednesday? I mean, just, you need to know what to do, you know, and we had a lot of miscommunication and misunderstanding. They were getting open looks, especially in the beginning of the game, and they had, we have couple, couple on the end of the game, too. So, we, you just need to know where to be or what to do, what's the coverage or whatever. Tony, in the middle, third row. Nicola, Tony Jones from the Athletic. Do you guys feel that the offense, you know, at the end of game one and at the end of tonight, kind of bogged down against the zone? If that's the case, what are some of the adjustments that you guys can make for game three? I mean, the first game, I think we had, I said I miss, I miss mid-range shot, Jamal missed mid-range shot, and Mike missed corner three. I think that's the shot that we want. We didn't make that, we didn't make those and today, you know, they just put us in their rhythm, and we don't want to play that way, and they want to, obviously. But maybe just to play a little bit faster, it's gonna help us. Third row on the right, Dan. Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports. Nicola, it seemed like the, like, bam in the screen and roll was giving you a lot of problems as a team. The ability to, you know, sometimes you're up on the screen, sometimes you're back. They kind of had counters for all of those. What kind of challenges does that pose, and was that an issue in the fourth quarter for you? I mean, of course, they have a really good team and really good players, and we need to adjust, so it depends on the skill set of the player. Sometimes we are up, sometimes we are down the floor. I mean, I think that everybody is doing that in the league, so we just need to be there for early and then make an extra effort, I think. Any other questions? Vinny, on the second row over there. Vinny Benedetto with the Denver Gazette. Nicola, Coach Malone mentioned your tremendous close to the third quarter. I think you had a couple physical buckets inside, then you got out and ran. What stands out to you about that stretch you had late in the third? I mean, just a good stretch, of course. It seems like I just got going and I was just trying to score. Simple as that. All the way in the back, last row. Katie Wingie, Altitude TV. Nicola, what can you guys do differently defending the three-point line? They obviously didn't hit their open mucks in game one, but tonight they did. Yes, of course. They scored 17 threes. They scored 48 percent, which is really, really good, of course. You know, I think it's to be disciplined. If somebody's running from him off or just maybe, you know, I think the discipline is the key for us. If you're not disciplined, if you're gonna have a breakdown, it's not gonna be a long series, of course. But just because they are punishing you as soon as you make mistakes, so hopefully we're gonna be disciplined for the next game. We'll go back right, and then Mike, last question here in the front. Nicola, what was sort of the the mood when you guys got in there, knowing that effort was kind of one of the main issues? What was sort of the mood when you all huddled up in there? I don't know. Mike, right here in the front. Nicola, Mike Singer, Denver Post. You guys have not lost at home in the postseason. How do you expect you will handle what really amounts to the first adversity you guys have seen this postseason? I mean, we know that that's not gonna happen. Like, of course, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And especially in the playoffs, where every game is different, every game matters, which is normal. You know, we didn't want to lose, but we lost. So hopefully, hopefully we're gonna go there and then win the next one. Thank you, Nicola. Thank you, guys, appreciate it.