Despite being the reigning NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets aren’t considered the best team in the league this season. They did lose some key pieces in the offseason, but that hasn’t affected their level of play this campaign.
That said, team superstar Nikola Jokic appears to agree with the majority of the public. The Serbian big man claimed that the Boston Celtics deserve the unofficial title after facing the team on Thursday.
“They are a really good team,” Jokic told reporters postgame. “They have basically an answer for everything, matchup-wise, defense-wise, offense-wise. They are really a well-built team, and they’re playing really good, you know. That’s why they are the best team in the NBA right now. It’s really hard to play against that team. They’re long, tall. They defend really good. They have really smart players. It’s a great team.”
Even though Jokic thinks the Celtics are above everyone this season, that didn’t stop him and the Nuggets from beating the C’s to sweep the regular-season series. Jokic posted another triple-double this season, scoring 32 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing 11 assists in the 115-109 win.
The Celtics still hold the best record in the entire NBA (48-14), looking like a serious candidate to come out of the Eastern Conference this campaign. The Nuggets boast a 43-20 record, enough to rank third in the West behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Although they haven’t been as dominant as last season, the Nuggets are still playing at a high level. Jokic has taken his game to the next level again, and nobody seems to be able to stop him. After their regular-season series ended, the only way to see these two clash again is in a hypothetical NBA Finals.
If that’s the case, then the Celtics will have the chance to confirm what Jokic told reporters.