Nikola Jokic tells the Nuggets fans who booed the home opener they aren't welcome anymore

Nikola Jokic had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists Saturday night as the Denver Nuggets came back from 23 points down to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 141-135 in overtime. Then he told the fans who booed them to stay home.

"We got booed at our first home game, and I think those fans who booed us, they don't need to come anymore," Jokic said at his postgame press conference, according to ESPN. "If you guys follow us, you know that we never quit and we've come back from much worse situations. So, if they ask me, they are not welcome anymore."

The boos were not out of nowhere. Denver trailed 53-30 in the second quarter of its home opener and went to halftime down 73-57, ESPN reported. New Orleans shot 65.9% in the first half and still led by 19 going into the fourth quarter, according to the Associated Press.

Then the Nuggets did what Jokic said they always do. Jamal Murray scored 42 points and made eight 3-pointers, and his two free throws with 17 seconds left tied the game. Jokic scored eight points in overtime, and rookie Trevon Brazile hit a corner 3 with 1:25 left in the extra period that put Denver up 133-129. It was Jokic's 199th regular-season triple-double, second only to Russell Westbrook's 209.

Jokic said he could not explain the slow start. "It was just, you know, nothing goes your way, they're making shots and you're not making shots," he said, per ESPN. "It was just bad energy and it needs a couple of minutes to go by so you can get out of it."

Here is the RANT take. Jokic is right that this team has earned some patience, and he gets some leeway after dragging his team out of a 23-point hole. But fans who pay for a home opener and watch their team give up 73 points in a half are allowed to react. Telling them not to come back is a bad look. The cleaner answer was the comeback itself.

Denver did it short-handed, without Cam Johnson (ankle), Alpha Diallo (sprained wrist), Julian Strawther and Spencer Jones, the AP said. The Nuggets are 1-1. New Orleans is 0-3 under first-year coach Jamahl Mosley.