Brian Windhorst has been a broken record lately. This isn’t the first time he’s mentioned that Nikola Jokic “just doesn’t look right.” But this time, he brought the receipts in the form of statistical splits to back it up.
On the latest episode of The Hoop Collective with Brian Windhorst, he and guests Vince Goodwill and Anthony Slater discussed the recent “skid” Jokic has been on. About the most recent, dominating defensive win against the Celtics, in which the whole Nuggets team shot poorly, Windy focused on the shooting. “He missed 17 shots in that game. He doesn’t miss 17 shots in five games sometimes,” Windhorst said.
Windy wasn’t done. He read off the splits, and there’s a noticeable decline since Jokic has returned from injury.
Before missing 16 games, Jokic was averaging 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists while shooting 57% from the floor, 41% from three-point range, and 85% from the free throw line. And he turned the ball over at a 3.6 clip per game.
Jokic’s decline is still better than most of the league
Then came the receipts. In the 11 games since his return, Jokic’s numbers have fallen to 26 points and 14 rebounds, but that’s the only one holding steady. He’s down to 9 assists, while his shooting has also declined to 48% from the field, 33% from three-point range, and 78% from the charity stripe. But his turnovers only climbed to 4.0 per game.
It seems almost silly that it’s a problem. If the Nuggets were 5-1 in clutch games since Jokic’s return, it wouldn’t be an issue. But because they’re 1-5, it has put a spotlight on the decline in production.
Those numbers are still MVP worthy. He still just had a 35-20-12 game in the loss to the Warriors. It was the third game in four nights, and it started at lunchtime.
Bill Simmons even shed light on the start time and said, “It’s like death. It’s a really bad thing for the team that’s playing the three-in-four.”
Jokic did look sluggish on defense
Slater later remarked how Jokic did “look a little slower” in the Golden State loss. And he referenced the fact that Jokic “strayed away from” Al Horford, who was often left wide open. Horford made the Nuggets pay, burying six of seven threes.
Maybe there’s still some rust from the long layoff. Maybe there’s a little pain in the wrist.
But the bigger picture still shows that the three-time MVP is having his best season to date. The Joker’s problem is that he’s so much better than everyone else that when he slips even a little, his numbers stand out from his norm that much.
