Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Nikola Jokic has overcome his slow start on offense.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Brandon Wade/AP.)
Nikola Jokic has showed his dominance over the last couple of games. Against the Hawks, he needed to score a career-best 47 points to help get Denver the win. In a duel against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, he came out on top. First, he scored 21 points in the third quarter. Then Jokic went to work on the post in a mismatch against Dorian Finney-Smith and converted the eventual game-winner with 7.9 seconds left. Yeah, the same post-up move that Rick Carlisle has forsaken. But when you have a hefty dude like Jokic against a much smaller dude (well, in comparison, that is), why not take advantage?
Either way, Jokic went for 33 against Dallas. He has scored 80 points in the last two contests.
I remember pundits were not too thrilled with Jokic early in the season. Even after he got on a bit of a roll, he still wasn’t setting the world on fire. People weren’t talking about it, though, because the Nuggets were actually winning despite of his lack of offense. He finished November with three single-digit performances.
After a 6-point game in a blowout win against the Knicks on December 5, he woke up as he dropped 30 in a loss against Boston. Starting from that Boston game, he hasn’t scored single digits since (18 straight double-digit games). And Jokic has averaged 24.1 points in those 18 games. Denver is 12-6 in those games but that streak by Jokic opened with a three-game skid. The 12-3 in the last 15 games is more of the Denver we know.
In that same span, Jokic has had four triple-doubles so it’s not just the scoring that is standing out. After all, he’s considered the best passing big in the league today and, of course, being a, uh, substantial man, Jokic can gobble up those boards. Jokic actually has 7 triple-doubles this season so he’s been doing work but you know how much people love to point out the negatives.
Anyway, Denver is currently going strong as the second seed in the Western Conference. They’re going to need more of Jokic’s dominance to have a better chance of going further than the Western Conference Semis.
Bullet Passes
Staying on that Denver/Dallas game, it’s wild that the Mavs, who have the best offense in the league, couldn’t get off a shot against the Nuggets in the last play of the game.
Finding it a little unusual that the not-so-great Spurs have defeated the Bucks and the Celtics in the last games. I still don’t think the Spurs will have some sort of turning point. A friend has told me that they’ll think they can get above .500. I mean, this is essentially the same team from last year but I still don’t think they can ring off a long winning streak. Nothing besides the last two games indicates they can be an above .500 team.
Trae Young went for 42-13-10. James Harden had 41-10-10. They are the first pair of NBA players to have 40-point triple-doubles in the same game. But yes, the Rockets won.
I kept telling you guys about Utah, y’all.
Jimmy Butler and T.J. Warren had a bit of a tussle. Warren would end up getting ejected, which Butler reacted with some kisses.
Also, this is not polite, T.J.
Meanwhile, Miami is second in the East THIS deep into the season. Extremely impressive.
Malik Monk pretty much dunked on his teammate, Cody Zeller.
(VIDEO CREDIT: House of Highlights.)
But, hey, Zeller did a great job of boxing out a couple of Raptors.
The Scoreboard
TOR 112 (25-13) @ CHA 110 (15-25) (OT)
MIA 122 (27-10) @ IND 108 (23-15)
SA 129 (16-20) @ BOS 114 (25-10)
WAS 89 (12-25) @ ORL 123 (18-20)
DEN 107 (26-11) @ DAL 106 (23-14)
HOU 122 (25-11) @ ATL 115 (8-30)
CHI 108 (13-25) @ NO 123 (13-25)
NY 104 (10-28) @ UTA 128 (25-12)
MIL 107 (33-6) @ GS 98 (9-30)
Watch This Play
Like I said earlier, Jokic won it with an old-school post move.
(VIDEO CREDIT: House of Highlights.)
Took advantage of a mismatch and he came through.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.