In Christmas Day NBA, the Denver Nuggets got the better of the Golden State Warriors in a balanced game throughout its duration. The Californians sent six players into double figures, led by Andrew Wiggins’ 22 points, while the Nuggets found 28 points from Jamal Murray and a Nikola Jokic who once again flirted with a triple-double: 26 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists.
Contrary to what these figures might indicate, it was not one of the best games for Jokic: the Serbian shot 4/12 from the field, saved by the 18/18 on free throws, a new career-high. Just the number of whistles in his favor infuriated the Warriors and in particular coach Steve Kerr. The coach in the press conference pointed out the unequal treatment (32 free the Nuggets, 23 the Warriors) and in particular the great protection towards Jokic.
“I don’t have a problem with referees, we have good ones in the NBA. I have a problem with the way we treat the defense. The way we instruct the referees, we allow players to be given trips to the lunette. If I had been a fan today, I would not have wanted to watch the second half. It was disgusting. The only thing that was seen was trying to push the referees to make certain calls, but they have to call those fouls because that’s what they are taught. So I have a real problem with the way we legislate defense in this league, in this league the players are very smart. Over the last decade they’ve gotten smarter and smarter, we’ve allowed them to do that, and now they’re taking full advantage of it. It’s a parade to the free throw line, disgusting to watch.” Kerr stated.