Nikola Jokic is truly a one of a kind player. No one in league history has his combination of soft scoring touch around the basket, incredible court vision and the audacity to pull off some unthinkable passes, and his overall knowledge of how to play the game. On Monday night, Jokic was once again a central force in the Denver Nuggets’ 125-116 win over the Indiana Pacers, as he came within one rebound away from a triple-double with an excellent 18-point, nine-rebound, and 19-assist night.
The Los Angeles Lakers may have provided a blueprint for how to muck up things offensively for the Nuggets, but Jokic, as great of a player as he is, always manages to find a way. Against the Pacers, a team that was trying to be aggressive against the reigning MVP, Jokic picked apart their defense by virtue of Denver having much better spacing this time around, and as a result, the Joker made some history.
Not only did the Nuggets star put up his career-high in assists, he also managed to tally the second-most dimes for a center in the history of the NBA, according to ESPN. Of course, who else but Wilt Chamberlain holds the record? The Big Dipper, back on February 2, 1968, recorded 21 assists when he was with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chamberlain is a statistical anomaly who played in a league with only 12 teams; there is no invalidating his feats, but one would have to think about the gulf in overall quality between the league in 1968 and how it is today. Regardless, this just shows how the Nuggets star is able to tally feats that not too many thought could be broken someday.
There simply are no correct answers for how to deal with Jokic; the Nuggets star forces opponents to pick their poison, and on Monday, the Pacers found dealing with him to be as caustic as it can get.
Nikola Jokic is the Nuggets’ ultimate problem-solver
Nikola Jokic has seen every kind of coverage there is for him to see, and although there are nights when it seems like defenses get the best of him, it’s only a matter of time before he figures it out for the Nuggets.
Jokic’s combination of skill and size makes him the biggest mismatch problem in the league. Play him one-on-one and he feasts on the interior. Send a double-team towards him, and he records 19 assists. He’s now averaging 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.4 assists on the year, and if that doesn’t net him his fourth MVP award, then it’s not clear what will.
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