Nikola Jokic keeps showing he can beat teams in a variety of ways
Jan 23, 2022, 8:06 PM
How can Nikola Jokic help the Denver Nuggets win a game? Let me count the ways.
About the time you think you have received just about everything Nikola Jokic can give you, he has a game like he had on Wednesday night at Ball Arena.
The Nuggets, playing a team they were completely embarrassed by a week earlier in Los Angeles, losing the game after leading by 25 in the second half, were looking to avenge what many considered the team’s worst loss of the season. And when you look to avenge, you look to your star player, the best player in team history. Which is exactly what the Nuggets did on this night.
Sitting with 49 points and 14 rebounds, Nikola Jokic fed Aaron Gordon for a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in overtime, giving the Denver Nuggets a 130-128 victory over the Clippers.
Jokic drew a double-team, then rifled a pass across the court into the left corner. Gordon made his fourth three-pointer of the game to give him 28 points. And, for good measure, Jokic, in the process, picked up his 10th assist, giving him his third straight triple-double and 10th of the season.
Nobody should be surprised with this Jokic brilliance. Aaron Gordon certainly was not.
“I knew the ball was going to come to me because Jok makes the right play, the right pass, even in pressure situations,” Gordon told the assembled media after the game. “He put it on time and on target. All I had to do was catch and shoot.”