Nuggets notebook: Nikola Jokic fourth in Clutch Player of the Year, Michael Malone reflects on growth

LOS ANGELES - Nikola Jokic will have to wait a bit longer for his first individual award of the season.

Denver’s star center finished fourth in the voting for Clutch Player of the Year. Golden State guard Stephen Curry narrowly won the award over Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan. Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was third. Jokic received four first-place votes.

“Pretty good company,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said pregame.

“He doesn’t care about it. I really don’t care about it. Those guys that you just mentioned are all terrific players.”

The NBA defines the clutch as the final five minutes of a game that’s within five points. Denver’s 26-14 record is second to Chicago’s 27-17. The Nuggets posted the league’s best net rating in the clutch, 24.5, just better than Chicago’s 23.5.

“More important than Nikola in the clutch, it’s the Denver Nuggets in the clutch,” Malone said. "

“The amount of possessions, games, experiences that our players have together in close games, they’ve been able to understand what’s on the line and make sure we get timely stops and great execution on the end.”

Jokic remains the favorite to win his third most valuable player award in the last four seasons. The winner is typically announced during the second round of the playoffs.

Malone reflects on Murray’s game-winner

The final seconds of Game 2 would’ve looked a lot different earlier in Michael Malone’s career.

“Maybe a few years ago, right when we got that stop, I would’ve been in a rush to call a timeout to draw up some amazing play,” Malone said prior to Game 3. “Well, the amazing thing to do is let your players make amazing plays. That’s what Jamal Murray did.”

Denver’s coach went on to say the game slows down for coaches, just as it does for players, with additional experience.

“The game does slow down, and more importantly, you’re not coaching every dribble,” Malone said. “You’re not living and dying with every win and loss. You kind of relax. I’m sure you me very relaxed on the sideline all the time.”

Lakers still waiting for Wood, Vanderbilt

There was hope the Lakers would get a pair of key reserves back for Thursday’s Game 3, but that wasn’t the case.

Neither Christian Wood nor Jarred Vanderbilt were available, and Lakers coach Darvin Ham didn’t have much of an update on their potential availability ahead of Game 4 on Saturday.

“Tomorrow we’ll have another update on those guys. It’s a day-by-day thing,” Ham said pregame.

Big week for Lil Wayne

Rap superstar Lil Wayne was among the celebrities in attendance for Game 3.

After supporting his Lakers on Thursday, the rapper was headed to Colorado. Lil Wayne is scheduled to perform Saturday in Boulder following the University of Colorado’s spring football game Saturday.

Game 4 tickets

Nuggets fans considering a quick trip to Los Angeles for Game 4 might be surprised at the price of entry.

Dozens of tickets in the upper level of Crypto.com Arena were available for under $200 Thursday night.