Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic posted a quintessential stat line Monday night, recording 14/11/16 on perfect shooting splits as the Denver Nuggets soundly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. The Serbian big man took only 5 shots from the field and hit every one, but even the perfunctory scoring effort was unnecessary as star shooting guard Jamal Murray seemed to find the pre-injury form the Nuggets are hoping for, netting 36 points against an injured Lakers squad.
The win solidifies the Nuggets’ place atop the Western Conference, and was representative of Jokic’s complete mastery of NBA offense. “The Big Honey” hardly has to move in order to impact the game - his passes are so deadly that he warps the very space around him, which not only opens up easy looks in the paint, but allows his teammates to get involved and score from every level of the court.
This isn’t a standard “drive and kick” passing game, but rather a comprehensive, inside-out, no-look, behind-the-back, panoramic vision dynamic which befuddles opposing defenses on a nightly basis, and has for more than 2 seasons without any real answer. Jokic doesn’t rely on any one single move to “get his,” and he doesn’t hunt for fouls in the paint in order to go to the free throw line, he simply has a preternatural understanding of spacing on the basketball court, and often knows where his teammates will be before they know it.
Unlike other star big men who can be shut down (or at least slowed down) by a robust interior presence, the way the joker plays is such that he is almost unaffected by defensive schemes thrown at him - so long as his teammates can hit the shots Jokic creates for them. If Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. and the erumpent Bones Hyland can play at a consistently high-level throughout the season and playoffs, the Nuggets will be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference, one that other teams might have no real answer to.
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