“We tricked ourselves” - Nikola Jokic makes blunt admission on facing weak teams after Lakers snap 9-game winning run

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic made a blunt assessment of his team's defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. The team hosted the purple and gold at the Ball Arena and succumbed to them in a blowout loss (123-100). This defeat snapped the Nuggets' 9-game winning streak.

Denver writer Brendan Vogt, posting on X (formerly Twitter), asked Jokic about his team's performances against "winning teams." The former MVP responded candidly, stating that the victories had primarily come "against some struggling and injured teams." He further remarked that the Nuggets had "tricked" themselves regarding their performance.

"Maybe we tricked ourselves," Jokic said claiming the 9-game win streak was against weaker opponents and didn't truly test the team's metal.

The Nuggets' nine wins during the unbeaten run came against opponents with teams below the .500 winning percentile. Their record against teams above that mark is 12-14.

On Saturday, Lakers guard Luka Doncic dropped 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. LeBron James also chipped in with 25 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Nikola Jokic had an underwhelming shooting performance against the Lakers despite recording a triple-double

The Denver Nuggets' setback to the Lakers on Saturday was their first loss of the month. Despite recording his 26th triple-double of the season, the Serb struggled from behind the arc, shooting only 28.5%.

Only two of his seven shots were successful, marking a low point for Jokic, who entered the game shooting 60.6% from the field and averaging 28.2 points per game over his previous 10 games. Furthermore, the Serb struggled from the 3-point line, missing his only shot.

Despite his shockingly poor shooting performance, Jokic finished the night with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Aaron Gordon (24 points) was the only positive on the night as Jamal Murray who had scored 34 and 55 points respectively in his last two fixtures only managed to score 19 points and had five turnovers.