Perhaps the most entertaining occurrence to hit an NBA floor so far in the 2021-22 season came when the Denver Nuggets hosted the Miami Heat on Nov. 8. LA forward Markieff Morris decided he’d hip check reigning MVP Nikola Jokic on a half-court heave, something Jokic didn’t appreciate.
Morris turned his back, and the Denver center unleashed a vicious forearm shiver, sending the Heat forward flying to the ground and nearly igniting an all-out brawl.
Jokic — who has been suspended for one game — is squarely in the NBA news cycle now, but he should have been all along as the Joker is off to an unprecedented start to the season.
Nikola Jokic has single-handedly kept the Nuggets afloat
Denver is without lead guard Jamal Murray, who tore his ACL in April. At this point, there’s no timetable for Murray’s return.
In his stead, Jokic is leading Denver in points, field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage (minus Zeke Nnaji, who has barely played more than 10 total minutes this year), and assists.
The 26-year-old is also the Nuggets leader in free-throw attempts, rebounds, assists, and steals and is tied with Aaron Gordon for the team lead in blocks per game.
Denver head coach Michael Malone has been rolling with a fairly tight rotation so far this year. Only five Nuggets have played more than 265 minutes despite the team being healthier than a number of other NBA squads, even with Murray’s absence.
Jokic is second on the team in minutes behind Will Barton but has a significantly higher usage rate. The Denver offense is clearly running through The Cookie Monster — his usage rate of 29.4 is nine points ahead of Barton and more than 10 points ahead of Michael Porter Jr and Gordon.
It’s also good for 24th in the entire NBA, ahead of any member of the Lakers and ahead of franchise-carrying superstars like Damian Lillard and Jimmy Butler.
The Nuggets beat Miami to move to 6-4 through the first three weeks of the season. Unsurprisingly, that came behind a triple-double from Jokic — 25 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists.
That’s the way the cookie’s crumbled in Denver’s six wins.
The Joker is following up his MVP campaign with a historic first few weeks
Jokic’s stats don’t just lie atop the Nuggets’ leaderboard. They’re also among the best in the entire NBA.
Big Honey’s 25.4 points-per-game average is 10th in the league. He’s also third in the NBA in rebounding.
His 3-point shooting percentage (a career-high 40.0) is fourth among centers that attempt more than four shots from deep per game. He leads all big men in assists.
Then there’s the real kicker: Jokic’s PER of 35.0 would be the highest in NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain’s 32.1 PER in the 1961-62 season is the current standard-bearer, according to StatMuse. (Wilt also has the third-highest ever at 31.8, which came the following year).
Giannis Antetokounmpo landed at 31.9 during his 2019-20 MVP season. Michael Jodan finished with a PER of 31.7 during the 1987-88 campaign.
Simply put, the Serbian is off to the greatest start to a season in league history. Maybe all it took was a wicked forearm to the back and a suspension to make everyone stand up and take notice.
The Nuggets need Jokic in order to battle the top teams in the West
ACL injuries usually take a year or so to recover fully. That means Murray’s return is butting right up against the start of the postseason, not accounting for any rust the 24-year-old needs to knock off.
As evidenced by his top-25 usage rate, Denver is leaning heavily on its MVP to move toward the top of the Western Conference standings.
The Nuggets have been flirting with the transition from good to great for the last three years. They made the conference finals in the bubble but lost in five games to the eventual champion Lakers. That was sandwiched between two conference semifinals appearances.
If the franchise is going to dive headfirst into the championship-contender pool this year, Jokic will have to make it happen. Any more suspensions would be detrimental to the cause, but The Joker will have to continue fighting to keep Denver moving forward.
All statistics courtesy of NBA.com.
RELATED: Nikola Jokic’s Violent Cheap Shot Ignites a Feud Between His Intimidating Brothers and the Morris Twins: ‘We Will Be Waiting for You’
The post Nikola Jokic’s Dust-Up With Markieff Morris May Finally Force People to Recognize His Historic Start to the 2021-22 NBA Season appeared first on Sportscasting | Pure Sports.
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By: Andrew Hanlon
Title: Nikola Jokic’s Dust-Up With Markieff Morris May Finally Force People to Recognize His Historic Start to the 2021-22 NBA Season
Sourced From: www.sportscasting.com/nikola-jokic-markieff-morris-recognize-historic-start-nba-season/
Published Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2021 17:21:09 +0000
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