Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is a mere 39 days older than I am. He’s only played in 167 more NBA games than you or I, only 2247 NBA points separate him and myself, but so far, he’s made the playoffs the same amount of times as many of us have.
That last one is about to change. The playoff barrier that has alluded Jokic and the Nuggets during his young career is dissipating quickly, and it’s for one simple reason; Nikola Jokic is awesome and is the best player on a rapidly improving Denver Nuggets team.
He’s been dominant before, but now he has a supporting cast that can contribute to winning basketball. They currently sit second in a stacked Northwest Division, and their 8-6 record understates how good this team is and can be, thanks in part to a slow start.
In the Denver Nuggets first five games they averaged 98.8 points per game, but in the nine games since that number is all the way up to 109.7. This is largely a result of shooting better from everywhere on the floor, including the charity stripe. In addition to shooting better over the last nine games, Denver is also getting more steals, assists, and blocks, and most importantly, learning how to play together.
The team is beginning to gel like gel pens, but unlike gel pens, this offense will never go out of style. The Nuggets are sixth in the league in assists per game, and that chemistry and teammate knowhow have helped everyone get open looks.
They are moving the ball around and slipping screens to get open looks. When the D draws in on the basket, newly acquired veteran Paul Millsap is finding the space for easy shots:
It seems as if this Denver team has been playing together for years, scooting around and finding open looks for each other with ease and simplicity. Many of these plays swing through the lynchpin, Jokic, who somehow can create opportunities for his squad even when they don’t appear to be open:
How did he even see that pass, nonetheless float the ball into the perfect spot for the defender to be unable to even make a play? Jokic seems to make a highlight reel pass twice a week, and they not only create buckets for his teammates, but it creates momentum and energy for the whole Denver Nuggets roster.
Another reason that the Nuggets are shaping into form is their shooting from behind the three-point arc. In their first five games, Denver shot 32.8 percent from deep, including a 4/20 blunder against the Atlanta Hawks. Since then, they are shooting 37.8 percent from long range, and have had three games over 40 percent from long range.
Much of this resurgence falls on the shoulders of sophomore point guard Jamal Murray. Murray started the season off 2/21 from long range, but he’s 17/45 since then and made six bombs against the Orlando Magic. Watch this clip from that game, as some nasty ball movement leads to a wide open Murray three:
Denver head coach Mike Malone has unique ways of getting guys open on the perimeter. On that play, it was a simple back cut by Mudiay that forced the weakside help to come and gave Murray a wide open look. But some of the actions the team is running are beautiful works of art that should be hung in the Louvre.
Malone fools everyone with his use of Gary Harris here. Harris sets a backscreen for Paul Millsap in an attempt to get him open under the basket. While the defense turns their attention to Millsap, Harris subtly slips off a Jokic pindown-of-sorts to get an open three at the top of the key:
The Miami Heat realized what was going on just a split second too late, and Denver gets an easy bucket.
Knocking down your shots and passing the ball more frequently can only carry a team so much, though. Denver had a great offense last season, but they had the second worst defense, so they finished with a losing record. Now, they have the 18th best defensive rating, still a far cry from being good, but a significant improvement over last season.
Their 106.4 defensive rating is nearly six points better than last season, and once again, this is largely due to the team’s improvement over the last nine games. They averaged six steals per game over the first five games, but over the last nine games that number has jumped up to 9.8 per night.
They stay in front of their matchup and cut off passing lanes to makes things difficult for opponents. Emmanuel Mudaiy does a fantastic job on John Wall here, and he forces a tough pass. It is then stolen by Jokic and it leads to an easy three for Mudiay on the other end:
Quick hands from Mudiay were only half the battle, staying in front of the speedy John Wall was the tougher half.
Alongside steals, the Nuggets have been having block parties every night as well. Paul Millsap is averaging over a block a game as a 32-year-old, and the team as a whole increased their average from 2.4 blocks over their first five games to 5.6 since.
He reads the play perfectly here, lurching over at the perfect time to reject a Paul George finger roll at the rim:
And here, Mason Plumlee gets switched on to Steph Curry. Instead of being deterred by the matchup, Plumlee does a great job on the former MVP and forces a pass to JaVale McGee, which Plumlee swats away:
Everything is starting to go right to Denver. The offense is starting to click, and these guys are all learning how to play together. The shots are falling and the ball is moving. On the defensive end, shutting down your guys are forcing mistake are becoming second nature. The steals and blocks are coming, and the wins are coming with it. The Denver Nuggets are starting to figure it all out. That should be scary to other teams.
