Nikola Jokić didn’t waste much time letting Nuggets fans know how he felt after Denver’s first home game turned into a mess, a rally, and then a win.
The Nuggets trailed New Orleans by as many as 23 on Saturday and were down 16 with 7:24 left before clawing all the way back. Denver forced overtime by holding the Pelicans without a field goal attempt in the final 80 seconds, then finished the job with a 15-9 edge in the extra period to pull out a 141-135 victory. Rookie Trevon Brazile even heard MVP chants from the same crowd that had booed earlier in the game.
Jokić, though, wasn’t in the mood to laugh it off.
"We got booed at our first home game, and I think those fans who booed us, they don't need to come anymore," Jokić said. "If you guys follow us, you know that we never quit and we've come back from much worse situations. So if they ask me, they are not welcome anymore."
Denver had already opened the season with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game in which the Nuggets scored just 84 points, their fewest in a regular-season game since January 2024. So when New Orleans pushed the lead past 20 in the first half, the boos made sense from the stands. The Nuggets were also carrying some fresh fan frustration into the season after a first-round playoff exit last spring against an injured Timberwolves team and the sign-and-trade of breakout forward Peyton Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a move driven largely by finances.
Still, Denver did what Denver has so often done during the Jokić era: came roaring back anyway.
That’s why the warning from its three-time MVP landed the way it did. Jokić has made it clear before that he plans to re-sign, but he can become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. For a fan base already uneasy about where the team stands, booing him might be a dangerous game.
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Trey Murphy May Have Just Shown The Pelicans A Better Way
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New Orleans has spent early stretches searching for a smoother offensive formula, and Murphys night suggested one path forward. His catch-and-shoot chances came more naturally, and the scoring burst was built with help from around the roster, as teammates repeatedly found him in position to do damage. Even in defeat, the performance stood out as more than a hot shooting night - it looked like a template the Pelicans may want to keep exploring. [Read more 🡒]