Nikola Jokic was not happy with the way he played and took responsibility for the Nuggets’ loss against the Celtics. Reigning NBA MVP scored team-high 23 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 4 assists as Boston took a comfortable win (124-104).

“We lost because of me. It’s very simple,” the Serbian center said after the game, per Katy Winge. “Maybe I force it, I don’t know, I just thought I had easy scores and I didn’t. They guarded me really well.”

Jokic also admitted that his defensive performance was subpar as well. “Defensively I wasn’t where I was supposed to be,” he said.

Both Denver and Boston are in playoff race. The Nuggets slipped into the play-in zone. With 42 wins and 30 losses they dropped to seventh place in the Western Conference. Meanwhile, Boston is fourth in the East with a 44-28 record.