Nikola Jokic is in a league of his own right now, leading the NBA in rebounds and assists. And on Wednesday night he outscored the entire Clippers starting lineup by himself with a 55-point masterpiece of a performance.
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Jokic has been named MVP three times, and honestly, that doesn’t seem like enough. He has his Nuggets at 9-2, the second-best record in the West, and he almost never seems to have an off night. He opened the season with four straight triple-doubles, and he hasn’t shot below 62% from the floor since opening night despite every team he faces trying to gameplan defensively around him.
Jokic’s basketball IQ is second to none, and despite not being the flashiest athlete, we’re still running out of ways to describe the amazing things he’s able to do on the court. On the latest episode of No Fouls Given though, Paul Pierce tried.
The Celtics legend said that he attended the Nuggets-Clippers game two nights ago, the first time he’s seen him in person since he started winning MVPs. “To watch how much smarter he is than everybody on the court, how much better he is,” Pierce said. “It’s like he’s playing with kids, and these are NBA teams. I have a 12-year-old son, that’s what it looks like even today.”
Despite not being a ball-dominant player, Pierce marveled at how Jokic was able to control the game.
“His footwork is incredible, his IQ … it’s so much within the flow of the offense. Nobody sets more screens than him, nobody passes the ball more than him. But somehow the ball ends up in his hands and he’s quick to score with it. He makes quick decisions. It was like watching a master chess player,” the former NBA champion said.
Sometimes we see a huge disparity at the college level, like say when Cooper Flagg hung 42 on Notre Dame as a freshman at Duke last year. Playing like a man among boys in the NBA though, the highest professional level, is rare, but Jokic does it routinely. “He just makes it look easy,” Danny Green said, “and his touch, it just finds the net every time.”
So many of today’s players, even stars, take regular nights off, but Jokic’s availability is one of his best traits. He’s played at least 69 games in all 10 seasons, and Pierce pointed out that his ridiculous performance against the Clippers came on the second half of a back-to-back. Combined with his 35-point evisceration of the Kings the night before, he basically had 90 points in a 24-hour stretch.
Every time Jokic plays, it should be must-watch TV for all basketball fans. He’ll suit up next on Saturday against the Timberwolves.
