DENVER — What began with a sheepish salute, a customary acknowledgement of history for a three-time MVP, ended with blown kisses to the crowd for Nikola Jokiu0107, whose arms were tattered with bright red scratches.
Better scratches than tire marks on the backs of Rudy Gobert and the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves, courtesy of Jokiu0107 and his one-man demolition.
Sooner or later, Jokiu0107 and his genius would be heard from. The longer a series goes, the greater the chance he figures out the coverages he can see and manipulates the strategies he can’t.
Combine that into a series that was separated by a grand total of two points heading into a tie-breaking Game 5, and it had all the ingredients for a joker to run wild.