"Successful hate watch"- Lakers fans get their lick back behind Wizards overcoming Nikola Jokic's mammoth 56-point night

The LA Lakers have dropped five consecutive regular season games and lost two straight playoff series to Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets. Despite this, fans of the Lakers found some solace when the Nuggets suffered a shocking 122-113 defeat to the struggling Washington Wizards on Saturday night.

Jokic put on an incredible performance, scoring a career-high 56 points in the absence of Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out eight assists in 38 minutes of play, but no other Nuggets player managed to reach 20 points.

The Wizards ended their franchise-record 16-game losing streak with the upset win, as Jordan Poole dropped 39 points, with four other Wizards players reaching double figures. Lakers fans couldn’t resist poking fun at the Nuggets after the loss.

“Jokic did all this to lose to the 2-18 Wizards 😭😭😭 successful hate watch,” a Lakers fan page said.

“We going to sleep Good tn,” another said.

“It actually makes me sad that the wizards can beat the nuggets yet the Lakers can’t,” a fan added.

One fan compared Jokic’s wasted performance to the trend of LeBron James breaking milestones in losing efforts.

Some fans were curious to see Nikola Jokic's record-setting night come against Jonas Valanciunas, who is reportedly a trade target for the Lakers. Valanciunas finished the game with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks.

“He did it against Jonas, the player we are trying to trade for🤨,” a fan said.

“He did this against Valancuinas and the lakers want him to help stop him is funny to me lol but he did in fact lose so point noted,” another added.

Nikola Jokic scores 56, but Nuggets fall short in loss

Nikola Jokic’s 56-point performance marked the second-highest single-game point total in Nuggets history, trailing only David Thompson’s 73 points against the Pistons on April 9, 1978.

Despite Jokic’s record-setting night, the Nuggets, missing two starters, were unable to overcome the Wizards, as Jokic’s 56 points on 22-for-38 shooting were not enough to secure a win. The rest of the Nuggets combined for just 57 points.

Julian Strawther was the second-highest scorer for Denver with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, while Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. chipped in 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Russell Westbrook, starting in place of Jamal Murray, recorded seven points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.