DENVER — Complain about the Game 1 officiating if you’d like. Go on, bellyache about it. It’s become the fashionable thing to do in the loser’s circle of a playoff game.

But the referees are not what turned Monday into a long night for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Nikola Jokic did. Also, sloppiness did. And now the mission of the first major adjustment of this playoff series belongs to Blazers coach Terry Stotts.

Portland lost the opening game in its best-of-seven series against Denver 121-113. Blame the loss on the way the game was played by the Blazers. And point an accusing finger at Jokic, who swung his limbs around the building like wrecking balls.

The guy had just played 44 minutes in a Game 7 win over the Spurs a couple of days earlier. The Blazers’ quicker, rested players were supposed to run Jokic into a 7-foot-tall wad of chewed gum. Instead, “The Joker” played 41.5 minutes, scored 37 points, had only two turnovers, and was easily the most problematic player on the court.

Does fatigue affect his game?

Beats me.

He looked ready to jog a mile with a beer in his hand at the final horn.

Jokic left the court grinning, and he came down the arena tunnel toward the locker room slapping high-fives with anyone willing to raise a hand. If the Blazers don’t find a way to put a stop to that kind of joy, it won’t end well.

Stotts said of the game plan on Jokic, “We’ll be watching video and trying to figure out something else.”

The Nuggets were not scheduled to practice on Tuesday. They would rest. No adjustment needed.

But when Stotts sees that video, he’s going to feel sick. Because for all the sloppy play, and for the dominance of Jokic, this was still a winnable game for the Blazers. Right up until it wasn’t.

Portland had four turnovers in the final 83 seconds of the first half. It let Jokic get loose for 15 third-quarter points. The Blazers’ supporting cast was so-so as a group. And in the end it was a distracted, sloppy, incomplete performance by Portland.

That included a game-high six turnovers for Damian Lillard.

Lillard scored 39 points. A quiet 39? Turns out he needed 50. But if the Blazers want to live in that space, their star guard will pile up numbers but the series won’t end favorably.

Stotts said, “Other than the turnovers, our offense was pretty good.” Which is sort of like saying other than that swarm of wasps, the picnic was heaven.

At some point, you have to deal with the insects.

Portland has to play much cleaner basketball. It needs to stop being consumed by gripes about the officiating. It needs a better plan for Jokic, which may include fewer double-teams for him to dissect. Not the worst idea to let the big guy try to get 50 while making a stronger commitment to harassing Denver’s perimeter threats.

Jamal Murray, for instance, had 23 points, eight assists, and only one turnover.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said something in the postgame news conference that is worth some thought. He was asked about Jokic’s play, and said, “He’s seen every conceivable coverage this season in the playoffs.”

Meaning, he does not think there is a new solution for Jokic. Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs could not solve it. So it feels like stopping Jokic is not necessarily about coverage as much as it’s about finding the right personnel.

I sorted through the season game logs, looking for trends. There just aren’t any easily identifiable ones when it comes to Jokic’s season. But two centers played Jokic better than most this season — Houston’s Clint Capela and Utah’s Rudy Gobert.

Both are international players. Both run exceptionally well. Both are good players. And they make me miss injured center Jusuf Nurkic, who would have mattered, big-time, in this matchup.

The loss was not Enes Kanter’s fault. He turned in an admirable performance in Game 1 on the offensive end. But this series may not be for Kanter on the defensive end, where Jokic feasted.

I’d like to see Zach Collins and Meyers Leonard experiment with defending Jokic a little more in Game 2. The first adjustment of the series belongs to Stotts, doesn’t it? So let’s see what Portland’s coach does with it.

Denver was the better team on Monday, even playing on short rest.

The Nuggets had a 12-1 record on the second game of a back-to-back this season. Maybe living in an altitude chamber known as the Denver metropolitan area helps. But their legs looked fine in Game 1.

“We never use fatigue as an excuse,” Malone said. “We never use any of that. We’re a no-excuse team.”

I’d like to see Portland adopt that identity immediately.

This is going to be a fun series. That much is clear. It’s going to have piles of points, wild swings, and the Nuggets are already more enjoyable to be around than Oklahoma City.

There was no rocking the baby. No tapping the wrist. No mocking, or drama, or trash talk. Just the Nuggets playing hard, running the offense through their Serbian center and making no excuses.

I still think the Blazers are positioned to win the series in seven games. But the margins are thin. And playing a much better Game 2 would go a long way toward the mission.

Portland got beat, but the team didn’t sound panicked after the loss.

On Monday night, Jokic became the third player in NBA playoff history to score 37 points, get nine rebounds, and have six assists, three steals and two blocks in a game.

The other two were Dr. J and LeBron.

That’s what the Blazers are dealing with here.

Jokic showed up to the postgame news conference after an extended wait. He was asked by one of the Denver media members why it always takes him so long to get showered and dressed.

“No, I just like to hang out with the guys,” he said, “… it’s just a cold tub and a stretch. I’m just taking too much time.”

Jokic got a laugh.

It’s Portland’s job to make his encore land with a thud.