Donovan's hopes had fallen through.
Jokic was, after all, Jokic.
He was a top-tier star in the league, indisputably ranked among the top two in the MVP race this season.
As long as he was on the court, he could help his team in all kinds of ways.
And in the Fourth Quarter Game tonight, the first thing Jokic showed was his outstanding playmaking ability.
After checking in, he didn't immediately try to overpower anyone in the post.
Instead, he took over the ball, directing traffic from the perimeter.
With his precise passing and the disciplined off-ball movement of his role players,
the Nuggets Team needed only three minutes to go on a 9–4 run against the Thunder Team, cutting the deficit back to seven.
In response,
the Thunder Team promptly called a timeout.
Then Donovan made a Big Swing, sending Anthony Davis back onto the court.
At the same time, Chen Xi began warming up, ready to check in at a moment's notice.
Unless something unexpected happened, Chen would be back on the court in about two minutes.
When AD returned, his defensive impact wasn't all that impressive.
He went out to the perimeter to contain Jokic, but in truth, it did little to hinder the Nuggets' offense.
Jokic's passes were still precise.
Even Pope, whose shooting had been ice-cold for nearly half the game, began to heat up at this point.
Using his teammates' screens and Off-Ball Pest movement, he slipped free and hit two more threes in a row.
Fortunately,
although Davis hadn't made much of an impact defensively, his presence on offense still went a long way toward easing the Thunder Team's pressure.
The combination of AD, Westbrook, and SGA was working very smoothly.
Davis was as efficient as ever finishing around the basket from four