The Denver Nuggets won for the seventh time in eight games last night, coasting home 135-112 after jumping out to a 19-0 lead on the Utah Jazz. Nikola Jokic posted a triple-double, his 14th of the season, and he did it in only 29 minutes.
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Jokic was the best player in the league a few years ago, but he seems to improve each and every year. What he’s doing this year is ridiculous, as he’s leading the NBA in rebounds and assists while also scoring 28.9 points per game. He’s shooting a higher percentage from both 2- and 3-point range than in any other season of his career, and he’s also getting to the free throw line more than he ever has.
Jokic is so good that comparing him to his contemporaries long ago became an outmoded idea. He’s at the point where you have to put him next to the all-time greats to fully understand how great he is, and that’s what Isiah Thomas did last night.
The Pistons legend knows a thing or two about greatness, and during a discussion about point guards, he couldn’t help but shift the conversation to the Serbian superstar.
Thomas pointed out how in his day, point guards wanted to facilitate the offense and get the ball inside to their big men. Now, those guards are looking to score, and Jokic’s ability to direct the offense as a big makes him dangerous in a totally different way.
“What I see with a guy like the Joker, which makes him so unique, and the reason why he’s leading the league in assists,” Thomas said, “is because while he can score in the paint and receive the ball in the paint, he also receives it at the top of the key. Most centers don’t get the ball at the top of the key. They’re handoff guys at the top of the key.”
“He’s a scorer at the top of the key, he’s a penetrator from the top of the key, he’s a passer, and he’s a facilitator, so while he is 7 feet tall, he really is a 6-1 point guard,” Thomas explained.
Thomas got clued in to just how good Jokic was by Scott Hastings, the Nuggets’ TV color analyst. Hastings called Thomas once with a lofty comparison for Jokic’s skill set.
“He called me up one night and he goes, ‘Junior, you gotta take a look at the Joker,'” Thomas recalled. “He goes, ‘He may be a better passer than Magic Johnson.’ I’m like, ‘No way. No, no way.’ He goes, ‘No, watch him.’ And the more you watch him, the more you see like, ‘OK, he diming like Magic.'”
Thomas was most impressed with Jokic’s versatility. “He’s hitting you from three different levels … The paint, mid-range, and top of the key, which makes him totally unique in the game,” he explained.
Most guys from Thomas’ era are reluctant to say that any modern player could match up with them, but Jokic’s ability left him with no choice. In the end, the two-time NBA champ agreed that Jokic “is at that level” as a passer because “he’s giving it to guys with touch. He’s giving it on time, on target, the seams are right, his no-looks are damn near better than Magic’s.”
Jokic is so good that he may be the league’s only hope of stopping an OKC Thunder repeat from happening. Last year he nearly beat them in the second round of the playoffs, eventually falling in seven games. This year he has a stronger supporting cast and it shows, as his Nuggets are now 21-7 and tied for second in the West.
