This Graphic Shows Just How Truly Insane Nikola Jokic's Historic Postseason Run Really Was
Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.I don't care if this is the 10,000th Jokic blog on the site since the clock hit 0.0 last night. Each and every one is well deserved, and this is what happens when you win the title. You've earned the praise and the attention in my opinion.
There's been a lot of talk about what an insane playoff run Nikola Jokic just pulled off, how he's the first in NBA history to do a billion different things, and it seems like every new nugget (no pun intended but intended) we get seems to be better than the last.
Which brings me to this graphic from ESPN today
Take a second or two and read that very carefully. There are plenty of ways you can look at this Jokic run, but to me, this is a great way of putting what we just witnessed into perspective
Just go down the list
- More points per game than one of the best pure scorers in NBA history
- More assists per game than one of the best pure passers in NBA history
- More rebounds than the best power forward in NBA history
- Better three point shooting than the greatest shooter in NBA history
- Better individual defense than one of the best defenders in NBA history
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What stands out most to you? It's certainly not the assists or really even the scoring or rebounding for me. Those are all things we knew Jokic was insane at. I'd probably start with the three point shooting. While it didn't come on crazy volume (3.8 3PA), it was by far the greatest three point shooting postseason run of Jokic's career. Just last year he took 3.6 3PA a game and shot 27.8%. That was coming off a regular season in which he shot 33% on 3.9 attempts.
This year in 69 regular season games, Jokic shot 38% on 2.2 attempts. Basically, he didn't really take any bad threes, and when he did decide to shoot, he made them at an above average clip. In the postseason, that number went up about 1 more 3PA a game, and his percentage jumped from 38% to 46%. In the Finals, Jokic finished 8-19 (42%), so there really was no answer for him no matter what he decided to do offensively. I don't think anyone could have possibly seen a Steph Curry-esq playoff shooting run from Jokic coming.
The of course is that defensive number. I'm not sure what that's referring to in terms of opponent shooting or defended FG%, but my guess is ESPN didn't just make it up. Of all the narratives that Jokic busted this postseason, I think the narrative around his defense has to be near the top of the list. Remember all that talk about how playoff offenses were going to expose the Nuggets and Jokic by just putting him in P&R? Nope. That didn't work. Rim protection? It was there too. I would argue that Jokic's impact on defense had just as much of a role in why the Nuggets won the title as his offense.
There's also this little nugget (again, no pun intended but intended) that takes things a step further
The best part of all this? You just know, that even now, even after accomplishing all this by playing some of the most ridiculous basketball the NBA has ever seen, Jokic still doesn't care. He got the ring and that's what matters most. The scary part is none of what we just watched looks unsustainable. In fact, it's probably only going to get better, which is pretty scary.