![]() This means we’re starting to see some “e” markings in the standings, indicating some teams already eliminated from even play-in contention. A few East teams - namely the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, and Charlotte Hornets - have played as many as 70 games, leaving just a dozen remaining. “You just start to examine your own judgment and you’re saying, ‘Wait a minute, is this person so dominant that he should be installed in this position in a league that has great stars every year?’” Wilbon said.The standings stakes are getting more intense with each day as the playoffs get a little closer. voter, said that voter fatigue is “probably” a real factor in voting, though “not consciously.” Michael Wilbon, the ESPN broadcaster and longtime M.V.P. But few have won the following year, even if, like Jokic, they continued to play well. Several players have won twice in a row, including Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo immediately before Jokic. Though the Grizzlies lost, Morant’s output was certainly that of a superstar - 35 points and 10 assists - and he, like Jokic, could be in the conversation for the M.V.P. Jokic, listed at 6-foot-11, has nine dunks on the year. Morant is a high-flying speedster who seems to have an internal joystick set to turbo at all times. His matchup against Memphis guard Ja Morant on Tuesday was a battle in contrasts. (During the 1981-82 season, Artis Gilmore averaged 18.5 points a game on 70.2 percent true shooting.) No one has ever averaged 20 points per game with at least 69 percent true shooting for a season. He’s averaging 24.7 points a game, and his true shooting percentage (a measure of scoring efficiency that factors in free throws) - is 68.8 percent. Jokic, for the third straight season, is leading the league in multiple advanced statistical categories, in large part because of his ruthless efficiency. He gets to where he needs to go, or makes sure the ball does. If he is single-covered, Jokic simply backs down the defender or shoots over him. If a double team comes, Jokic casually finds shooters or cutters. One of the most effective plays the Nuggets run involves Jokic catching the ball around the free-throw line, leaving the entire court at his disposal. Last year, when Brown was with the Nets, that number was only 38.3 percent. In the case of Brown, roughly half his shots have been “open” or “wide open,” according to the league’s tracking numbers. This year, teammates like Gordon, Brown and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are having great years, in part because of the open shots Jokic has created. When he sits, it is the worst, a remarkable swing. When Jokic is on the court, the Nuggets’ offense is on par with the league’s best teams. “You just have to be ready for the ball, no matter where you are or where he is on the court because he can find you,” Zeke Nnaji, a third-year reserve forward for the Nuggets, said in the locker room on Sunday. That was the amuse-bouche for minutes later, when he coolly tossed a blind over-the-head pass from the low post to Aaron Gordon for another dunk. Jokic meticulously dismantled Memphis by tossing out 13 assists, feeding his teammates as if he were Mary Poppins among birds, as part of a triple-double in a 14-point win.Įarly in the third quarter against Memphis on Tuesday, Jokic caught the ball near the perimeter, instantly tossed the ball between his legs without looking and found a cutting Bruce Brown for a dunk, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd. The next game was Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies, the only team standing between the Nuggets and the best record in the Western Conference. “But I knew that he was having just another Nikola Jokic stellar performance.” ![]() “I didn’t know it was a 40, 27 and 10 night,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said after the game Sunday. ![]() That’s the level Jokic is at nowadays: Even his off games are record-breaking. Jokic set a Denver Nuggets record by grabbing 20 rebounds in the first half alone, amid all of his miscues. It was the first time a player had compiled at least 35 points, 25 rebounds and 10 assists since Wilt Chamberlain did so in 1968. He made silly turnovers, was late on several defensive rotations and tallied just two assists in the first half.īut by the time that game against the Charlotte Hornets was over, Jokic had amassed an eye-popping stat line: 40 points, 27 rebounds and 10 assists. He was missing layups and had been called for a technical foul. DENVER - Nikola Jokic didn’t look like himself in some ways.
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