Kevin Durant had nothing but praise for Nikola Jokic after the Houston Rockets defeated the Denver Nuggets.

Kevin Durant & Nikola Jokic

The Houston Rockets defeated the Denver Nuggets by 115-101 on the road last night, finally beating one of their biggest Western Conference rivals after two losses this season. The game was marked by the on-court beef between Kevin Durant and Bruce Brown, two former Brooklyn Nets teammates, while Nikola Jokic had a quiet game by his lofty standards.

KD finished the game with 31 points, six rebounds and five assists, shooting 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-6 from deep. The Joker ended the night with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 9-for-20 shooting, but also committed five turnovers and picked up five fouls.

After the game, the 6-foot-11 forward praised the three-time MVP.

“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,” the 37-year-old said. “That’s how much respect I got for these dudes, that I want to get up and bring that energy, bring that fight.”

“I love how he approaches the game,” he added. “A lot of people might disagree with me right now, but I feel we have a similar mentality in 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, you’ve got to respect that.”

Jokic struggled on both ends of the floor in three matchups against Houston

This isn’t the first time Durant has praised Jokic, and if anyone recognizes greatness at his own level and truly respects the game itself, it’s the two-time NBA champion. Although there have been moments in their recent matchups where things flared up between the two future Hall of Famers, it’s clear it was all in the heat of competition.

With the loss, Denver dropped to third place in the West with a 20-7 record, while Houston remained fifth at 17-8. It’s becoming increasingly clear that many preseason predictions by NBA analysts were accurate and that these two teams will be locked in a fierce battle near the top of the Western Conference.

Interestingly, Jokic is shooting 60.5 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 84.1 percent from the free throw line this season. He has struggled comparatively against the Rockets. In three games against them, Jokic is shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 55.5 percent from beyond the arc and 78.5 percent from the line, while averaging 4.6 turnovers and 5.3 fouls per game.

It’s clear that facing two big bodies like Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams, with Clint Capela coming off the bench, makes it harder for Jokic to score as easily as usual. This was something many anticipated after seeing how Ime Udoka constructed his roster this season.

Players like Jabari Smith Jr. and Durant, who help from the weak side with their length, further complicate Jokic’s job, which is also reflected in Durant recording four blocks on Jokic over the last two matchups.

Jokic reached the level of the greatest players of modern era

Although Jokic’s numbers across three games are still phenomenal, further validating Durant’s claim that he’s one of the greatest players of the modern era, the overall impression is that he struggled on both ends of the floor.

As for the game itself, Denver’s offense, which has been dealing with injuries but still leads the league in offensive rating at 123.7 points per 100 possessions, was held to 101 points. Houston, meanwhile, is now allowing 111.8 points per 100 possessions, making it the fifth-best defense in the league, according to NBA.com.

It’s becoming clear that a potential rivalry is forming between these two elite Western Conference teams, centered around two of the best players of this era – Durant and Jokic. As for the Serbian center, he can already be discussed as a player who, during the era of unprecedented domination of LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Durant, has managed to reach the same level as they did, which only further confirms Durant’s words.