The Denver Nuggets stole and unlikely upset win from the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their playoff series on Monday night.

Despite trailing the vast majority of the game, the Nuggets refused to go away, and took advantage of a few late mistakes from the Thunder to stun Oklahoma City on their home court.

After the game, Inside the NBA’s Charles Barkley credited Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic for his leadership both on the floor and on the bench, noting that the three-time MVP had significantly stepped up his engagement with the rest of the team over the past few weeks.

“As long as they’ve got that dude, they’re going to believe,” Barkley said, agreeing with a point made earlier by fellow cohost Kenny Smith. “Joker is coaching right now. He is taking control of that team. We’ve seen him be more animated and emotional. It's all happened in the last month. We've been covering this team for years and the Joker don't ever show emotion.

"But in the last month, he has been doing that. So it goes back—obviously coach is important—but Joker's like, 'No, no, no, this is my team. We gon' keep winning.' He's the one constant. It's great to watch, man."

Jokic’s leadership is especially notable this postseason given the transitional stage the Nuggets currently find themselves in. With just three games left to play in the regular season, Denver let go of head coach Michael Malone, who had led them to a title less than two years before.

In his stead, assistant coach David Adelman has served as interim head coach, but anyone watching on Monday night could tell that the Nuggets were, above all else, Jokic’s team.

Jokic was animated on the sidelines during timeouts, rallying his team to a comeback that for a time looked improbable at best.

The gaudy numbers that Jokic has put up so far this postseason—he had 42 points and 22 rebounds on Monday night—are a surprise to no one. But its his leadership that could be the true determining factor in Denver’s bid to take down the No. 1 team in the West.

Game 2 is in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley Credits Nikola Jokic for ‘Taking Control’ of Nuggets Amidst Turmoil.

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