The Houston Rockets snapped the Denver Nuggets‘ six-game win streak on Saturday, beating them 115-101 at Ball Arena. Kevin Durant was certainly fired up for this clash, and he stated in his postgame media session that he had to bring a little something extra as he was going up against one of the greatest players he’s ever seen in Nikola Jokic.
“You come in here and play a championship organization with arguably, in my opinion, one of the top 10 players, five players that I’ve ever seen play basketball,” Durant said, via DNVR Nuggets. “That’s how much respect I got for these dudes that I want to get up and bring that energy, bring that fight.”
That is high praise from Durant. The 37-year-old has seen a lot of special players in action over the years, and it speaks to Jokic’s greatness that this doesn’t even seem like an outlandish comment.
“I just love his game,” Durant added. “I love how he approaches the game… A lot of people might disagree with me right now, but I feel we have a similar mentality on how we approach work, just the game itself. And I can sense that from afar. So I always have respect for him. I mean, when you accomplish what you accomplish in this league, gotta respect that.”
Jokic has a title, a Finals MVP, and three MVPs to his name. He is generally regarded as the best player in the NBA today and is in the midst of arguably his greatest season.
Jokic is averaging 29.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game for the Nuggets in 2025-26 while shooting 60.5% from the field and 42.1% from beyond the arc. The 30-year-old has been on an absolute tear, but the Rockets did actually manage to limit his impact in this one.
After dropping a 39-point triple-double in an overtime win over the Rockets on Monday, Jokic only had 25 points (9-20 FG), seven rebounds, and five assists here in the loss, which dropped the Nuggets to 20-7. This was a rare night when he wasn’t the best player on the court.
That would be Durant, who had 31 points (8-14 FG), six rebounds, five assists, and one block. The Rockets had lost two in a row coming into this one, and he ensured that the streak ended here.
While Durant was quite complimentary of Jokic after the game, he was perhaps being a tad too disrespectful to his Nuggets teammates during it. The Rockets forward was chirping with both Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. on the night.
Brown called Durant out postgame for making some disrespectful comments, and the future Hall of Famer admitted he wanted to cross the line in the game. Neither player chose to reveal what was said, but it had to be something ridiculous, as the Nuggets guard even stated he wished fighting was allowed in the NBA.
LeBron James And Draymond Green’s Comments On Nikola Jokic
Durant isn’t the only all-time great to have showered Jokic with high praise in recent times. Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James hailed him as the most complete player he’s faced.
Durant’s former Golden State Warriors teammate, Draymond Green, also called Jokic one of the 10 most talented players in NBA history. Green stated that the Serb could potentially make his list of the 10 greatest players of all time someday, too, but needs to add to his tally of one championship for that.
The biggest obstacle between Jokic and another title is the 25-3 Oklahoma City Thunder. The defending champions have been dominant all season, and beating them in a seven-game series looks like a rather difficult task. Jokic and the Nuggets did, though, take them to seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals last season, so you certainly wouldn’t write them off if the teams meet again in 2026.
