The Nuggets have found a formula for success in the past two games

The Nuggets have won two games in a row for the first time in a month. They held a 30-point lead in each of them, something they hadn’t done since 2019. They even won a regular season game in San Antonio for the first time in nine years. And they did it all despite playing without Will Barton, Austin Rivers and JaMychal Green, in addition to Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and P.J. Dozier. Here’s how it happened:

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Passing became contagious

Denver’s two best passing games of the year came Saturday in San Antonio and Monday versus Washington. Movement off the ball has led to easy points in the paint and wide-open looks from three. Denver had 33 assists on 47 made field goals against the Spurs and another 26 assists against the Wizards. The Nuggets newfound offensive rhythm has allowed them to dominate the second and third quarters and blow these games wide open. Facu Campazzo has been in full “White Chocolate” Jason Williams mode with And1 mixtape highlights, and even Aaron Gordon is throwing behind the back and no-look dimes for buckets. It’s allowed everyone to get involved and bring fun and excitement back into the offense.

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Air Gordon

Aaron Gordon has played really well over the last week despite being banged up. Over his last three games, Gordon has 57 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on 56 percent shooting. Gordon has also been a good decision maker and willing passer with Barton out. Playing off of Jokic and making quick passes on the move has created wide open corner threes for an offense that’s finally knocking them down. Playing with an injured back that almost kept him out against the Wizards, Gordon held Bradley Beal to 8-of-19 shooting. When the Nuggets fell apart after Jokic’s ejection in the fourth quarter, Gordon attacked the rim with a monster two-handed dunk to extend the lead back to ten and hold off the late push from Washington.

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Bombs away

The Nuggets couldn’t throw it in the ocean to start the season. They weren’t just shooting poorly, they were historically bad the first month of the season, especially from three-point range. Keyed by the improved ball movement and a tweak to the rotation, Saturday at San Antonio was their best three-point shooting performance of the season. Nikola Jokic and Monte Morris hit four three-pointers each and Markus Howard produced 21 points in 21 minutes with six made threes. Bones Hyland knocked down four from beyond the arc as well and Denver finished a scorching 20-of-43 from deep. Morris and Howard kept it up against the Wizards combining for 31 points on 6-11 shooting from three.

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They’ve got the best player in the world

Nikola Jokic is playing better than anyone in the world right now, and statistically better than anyone ever has. His league-leading 33.9 Player Efficiency Rating is nearly three full points better than second place Giannis Antetokounmpo and seven points better than Jimmy Butler who ranks third. Through 27 games Jokic’s PER is two points higher than the best season in NBA/ABA history.

He dominated San Antonio with 35 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks in 34 minutes. The only thing that slowed him and the offense down was an ejection with more than six minutes to play against Washington. By then, the heavy lifting was already done as he still finished with 28 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists.

Jokic has been effective with every lineup combination the Nuggets have put on the floor. Denver is more than 14 points better than their opponents per 100 possessions with Jokic on the court, four points better than any other player in the league.

The MVP has played on another level all season long, and these last two games have finally shown what the Nuggets offense can look like when everyone else starts to click around him.