WASHINGTON, D.C . — Asked to share the biggest challenges of coaching a game without multiple starters Saturday night, a straight-faced Michael Malone said, “Making sure I don’t play Nikola 48 minutes.”

When the comment fell on deaf ears, he felt the need to clarify.

“That was a joke,” he said, banging on the table in front of him like a drum set.

It was no joke three hours later, when Jokic was seated on the bench with 47 points through three quarters and the short-handed Nuggets were struggling to tread water against an opponent on a 16-game losing streak.

Jokic finished with a career-high 56, but Denver spared the Washington Wizards from their misery anyway with a 122-113 loss at Capital One Arena. The three-time MVP single-handedly chipped away at a 15-point deficit in the third, getting it to six before earning some rest. It was back to 13 by the time he checked back in.

His 38 field goal attempts were also a career-high.

Without Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets (11-10) didn’t get a secondary scoring contribution of more than 18 points. They were outscored by 33 from behind the 3-point line, with Jokic making three of their five 3s. Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 39 points in their first win since October.