Kelly Oubre Jr. isn’t sugarcoating the assignment in front of the Pacers. Before Indiana faces Denver on Saturday at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, he put Nikola Jokić in the highest possible company and made it clear the defensive job starts with discipline.
“Defend, do our best job to slow down the four-time, however many time MVP that these guys won,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “He’s one of the best players to ever touch the basketball.
He has a very [good] supporting cast around him. So it’s up to us to be locked in and be focused on the details.”
That’s the challenge waiting for Indiana after Jokić’s latest masterpiece. On Wednesday, he logged his 201st career triple-double with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in Denver’s 128-109 win over the Toronto Raptors. He now needs nine more triple-doubles to move past Russell Westbrook for the most in NBA history.
The numbers this season are already familiar territory for Jokić. He has three triple-doubles in seven games, and the Nuggets are 4-3. He’s averaging 23 points, nearly 10 rebounds and just over nine assists, even with his 3-point shooting down to a career-low 22%, according to the Pacers’ game preview.
Jokić’s résumé keeps growing, too. He has won three MVP awards and finished first or second in the voting in each of the last six seasons.
Indiana will also have to account for Jamal Murray, who has a history of putting up huge nights against the Pacers. The last time these teams met, Murray exploded for 52 points in Denver’s 135-120 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 3, 2025, going 19-of-25 from the field and 10-of-11 from 3-point range. Jokić added 24 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists in that one, and Denver swept the two-game season series last year.
Murray is leading the Nuggets at 25 points per game this season. He’s also posting a career-high 5.4 rebounds to go with 5.9 assists.
Pascal Siakam said Indiana knows exactly what kind of test is coming.
“It’s a really good team,” Pascal Siakam said. “Obviously, they’ve won at the highest level already before, and they have obviously Jokić and a great team, Jamal and all the guys over there. So it’s going to be a fun game, and we’re excited for the matchup.”
Siakam led the Pacers with 23 points in that December loss and enters Saturday 20 points shy of 13,000 for his career.
There’s also a family angle in this one. Andrew Nembhard is averaging a career-best 19 points with 6.9 assists and 39.5% shooting from 3-point range.
His younger brother, Ryan, is on a two-way contract with Denver and has appeared in three games for the Nuggets this season. If both are on the floor Saturday, it would be their first professional head-to-head meeting, according to NBA.com.
Denver will be without Julian Strawther, who is out with a left knee sprain. For Indiana, DeMar DeRozan missed Wednesday’s game because of lower back spasms and is listed as probable.
Tyrese Haliburton did not travel and is rehabbing a left hamstring strain at home. T.J.
McConnell is questionable, while Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy are out.
Rick Carlisle said the Pacers are trying to keep building as bodies return.
“It’s a tough league, and it’s fortunate for us that it’s a long season,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re starting to get some guys back from injury stuff, and that helps.
We did better in Memphis a couple nights ago, but Denver’s our team to play. They got two great players in [Jokić and Murray] and a very good overall team.
So we got our hands full, but we’re excited to be here and looking forward to the opportunity.”
Aaron Nesmith provided the finishing touch in that Memphis win, drilling the corner 3 with 14.6 seconds left.
“Just staying together, believing in one another, trusting in one another like we do all year,” Nesmith said. “I think if we do that at a high level, we’ll be okay.”
Indiana’s preview projects Braden Smith, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam and Zubac as the starting five. Denver is projected to go with Murray, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Jokić.
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