The Joker got played.

He can’t repeat the bad draw again Wednesday night, or the Suns will set on the Nuggets much too quickly.

Nikola Jokic must be the most invaluable player in Game 2. He has to go off for 35 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, two blocks and a steal, dictate to Phoenix center Deandre Ayton and coerce him into fouling out.

The Joker can’t show up as the Serbian Softie. More Heath Ledger and less Cesar Romero.

He should take advice from rock star Alice Cooper:

“No more Mr. Nice Guy, no more Mr. Clean.’’

Be Mr. Mean.

There’s a reason why Jokic on Tuesday became the runaway winner of the Most Valuable Player award for the regular season. Game 1 was not it.

The first half of the opener of the Denver-Phoenix series proved that the two teams belonged in the second round, should be playing each other and seemed rather equal. On the first night of 2021, the Nuggets lost at home to the Suns, 106-103. In back-to-back games later in January in Phoenix, the Nuggets triumphed in overtime, then double overtime.

They are thisclose , just as the Avalanche and the Knights are in the NHL playoffs.

The Nuggets held a one-point halftime lead and were up 70-60 with 8:43 remaining in the third quarter.

The Suns reeled off a 19-2 run, and the ultimate verdict was nolo contendre.

Here’s what we know: The Nuggets are not about to out-guard or out-forward the Suns. But the team from the Rocky Mountains must out-center the denizens of the desert.

Without Jamal Murray — who won’t have a miraculous recovery, but is serving as a leader of cheers with three-time NBA champ JaVale McGee — the Nuggets are at a disadvantage in the starting backcourt.

Devin Booker is averaging 28.4 points, and Chris Paul, one of the older players in the NBA and one of the premier guards of all time, has come back from a shoulder injury suffered in the first game of the playoff series with the Lakers. Paul is not at full bore, but he understands the playoffs, This is his 21st postseason series. He was a maestro Monday.

The Nuggets can’t match up with their flaky five — Facundo Campazzo, Austin Rivers, Monte Morris, Markus Howard and Shaquille Harrison. In the postseason each — especially Morris and Rivers — has produced memorable moments, but they come and go like a UPS delivery truck. In Game 1, as a group, they were 10 of 29 from the field and made only four scattered 3-pointers.

Oh, Campazzo had 14 points, but the more he shoots, the worse off the Nuggets are, and he can’t defend a horned frog. His flashy behind-the-back passes can’t erase the silly turnovers. For some motive known only to Michael Malone, Morris is not starting despite saving the Nuggets in two earlier games. Yet, Morris was minus-28, converting only 1 of 10 attempts, Monday.

The Nuggets should have the edge at starting forward with Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon. They actually played competently in the first half, but Porter tweaked his back, and is a mystery for Wednesday. Flash Gordon was the Nuggets’ hardest-working player throughout, but he and Porter couldn’t compare to Jae Crowder and Mikal Bridges of the Suns. Bridges suddenly flourished with 23 points and five rebounds. Crowder always is a sticky wicket.

However, the major issue for the Nuggets was Ayton flummoxed Jokic. Only one of the two finished with a double-double, and he was not the league’s center of attention. Both played 36 minutes, and Ayton made 9 of 13 for 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jokic was off on 13 of 23 shots from all over the field and ended up with an ordinary losing line of 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Ayton only fouled once, and Jokic didn’t shoot a free throw.

The 22-year-old Ayton, in his second season, should be Jokic’s favorite Serbian dish — Sarma (pickled cabbage, minced meat and rice).

In Game 2 Jokic has to post Ayton, drive him, beat him at the rim and out beyond the arc and outrebound him on the defensive end. Jokic has to draw three fouls in the first half and go the line 10 times in the game. He has to limit Ayton to a triple single while producing his own triple double.

Nikola Jokic is the NBA MVP. He must play like No 1.

If The Joker is wild, the Nuggets make it a series.