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With both LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets looking to book a spot in the Western Conference finals, the tension between the two teams has increased. After the second game, Patrick Beverley commented on Nikola Jokic's tendency to pressure the referees into giving him calls. The Serbian centre responded to his comment later, and now Nuggets head coach Mike Malone has reciprocated to Beverley's opinion.
Denver Nuggets' Mike Malone responds to Patrick Beverley's comments about Jokic
In a media session which happened after the Nuggets practice, reporters asked Mike Malone about Patrick Beverley's comments on the difficulties of defending Nikola Jokic. With a grim expression on his face, Malone responded -
"I don’t listen to Patrick Beverley a whole lot," Malone said after practice. "If Kawhi Leonard was talking, maybe I might’ve listened to it. Kawhi is a great player. But all you have to do is look at the stat sheet."
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Malone then went on to explain his statement. He mentioned that Beverley was wrong in suggesting that Jokic influences the referees, as the statistics pointed out that the Clippers shot more free throws than the Nuggets. He continued taking a shot at Beverley -
"Zubac attempted more free throws than Nikola Jokic. I’m not really sure what game Patrick is talking about or looking at, but I really don’t warrant or give too much attention to that."
Jokic had responded to Beverley's comments in a similar manner, indicating the discrepancy in free throws awarded to the two teams. In the game, Jokic dominated Zubac on the court. The Clippers centre fouled out in 22 minutes, while Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.
The LA Clippers won the second game of the Western Conference semi-finals after a brilliant fourth-quarter performance. Paul George was exceptional on the night, scoring 32 points and dishing out 4 assists. The two teams meet again for the fourth game on Wednesday at 9 PM ET. It would be interesting to see how Nikola Jokic will perform in a game in which a win will help the Denver Nuggets tie the series 2-2.
