PHOENIX – On many nights and many wins, there is unparalleled precision in Nikola Jokic’s brilliance on the basketball court. It is not a predator, rarely stalking prey and catching matches to punish it in the paint. It’s quite a rarity how a 6-foot-11, 280-pound powerhouse can camouflage his game to whatever’s going on in front of his scanning eyes, evaluate defense as he turns and changes, hold the ball longer, and know the perfect pass often opens up lanes as a result of patience. Sincere. Blink, and you might miss the way he juggled that possession. And by the time the scoreboard shows only zeros on the clock, Jokić has quietly racked up another triple-double as he continues to climb NBA records.
“The defense tells you what to do,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “Nikola never imposes anything. He’s a guy who will read the game literally and take what the game has to offer.”
There are other nights and other wins, with Jokić channeling actions clearly into his creative will, as the defense tells him to go ahead and take control. That’s when it doesn’t quite work in the eye of the Denver tornado attack, but Jokić is a storm in his own right. He becomes giant at the edge, gobbling up rebounds and eliminating an inside defender who is in trouble the moment Joki touches the ball, and is quickly crippled by his fakes, pivots and spins. Jokić exercised that sheer dominance Thursday night, scoring 20 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists before the break, building a 30-point first-half margin over the Phoenix Suns, as Denver cruised to a 125-100 series win to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time. The first since 2020.
“I think sometimes we take Nikola Jokic for granted,” said Malone. The two-time MVP would finish Game 6 with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals. “Because what he does every night is unbelievable. He makes everyone around him better. Don’t shake. Cool, Luke.”
Kevin Durant said, “Gokic is great all the time.” “He will go down as one of the all-time great basketball touching centers.”
Denver dropped Games 3 and 4 in Phoenix, succumbing to attacks by Devin Booker and Durant on the ramps. However, in the next two contests, Game 5 again at Ball Arena and this deciding battle for the center footprint, the Nuggets seemed completely unfazed by the competition across the aisle. Denver pulled off Phoenix in convincing fashion, and much of the crowd left the court with 8:35 left in the Suns season, as Jokic stepped up to the foul line and converted a pair of free throws to extend the Nuggets’ advantage to 30 points.
“It was disconcerting to see them score like that,” said Suns coach Monty Williams.
The Nuggets have a gelled eight-man rotation. Denver first found the perfect frontcourt partner for Jokic in Aaron Gordon at the 2021 trade deadline under former head coach Tim Connelly. When Calvin Booth rose to CEO of the Nuggets after Connelly left for Minnesota last summer, Denver quickly sent backup guard Monty Morris and veteran scorer Will Barton to Washington in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell Pope, a two-way forward. Any complementary wing in the league. Bruce Brown has been a stellar addition in free agency, arriving from Brooklyn for just under $7 million this season The Nuggets dealt promising young point guard Bones Hyland at this year’s deadline, in part because Denver is resting with Brown’s all-around abilities In spelling out all-star guard Jamal Murray. Throw in reliable veteran Jeff Green and bouncy rookie Christian Brown, and it’s hard to argue that these Nuggets, who marched toward the top seed in the Western Conference, aren’t the deepest and most talented team of the postseason. They are the first club to earn a trip to the Conference Finals for more than one reason.
“Awesome continuity. together for what? How long has Mike Malone been there, six years? In fact, the player who plays for Denver has led the Nuggets since 2015-16, Durant said, and is the fourth longest-serving coach in the NBA after Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, and Steve Kerr. “That’s a good advantage you get when your coach knows your players on the team and you have system in place for such a long period of time.
Joki’s rookie campaign came in the same 2015-16 season. Murray arrived the following year as the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, and the catch-and-roll chemistry has been brewing ever since. “We knew this was one of our advantages,” Murray said. “[Jokić] And me, when we play, it’s just reading. We have nothing set in stone. It is good to make basketball read and play the game. It may not be one of our nights, but we’ll catch each other. That’s why it’s a team sport.”
Meanwhile, the Suns boasted of acquiring Durant just a few months ago, and have blown their wildest punch out trying to capitalize on the championship window that had begun before the 2020-21 season with the acquisition of Chris Paul. This isn’t an indictment of the approach of Phoenix, which has already made a Finals appearance, but it’s hard to ignore the contrast between these two franchises and their respective team building strategies. Especially in the league’s current landscape, where player trade orders have virtually eliminated the chasing superstars in free agency, and three of the last four coaches to win an NBA title — Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and, most recently, Mike Bodenholzer — have been terminated by the franchise they led to the Promised Land.
Instead, Denver stayed the course. Certain personalities have come and gone. From players like Gary Harris, Jerami Grant, and Malik Beasley to working staff like Connelly and Arturas Karnisovas, he’s now the Executive Vice President leading the Chicago Bulls. But a lot of pieces, a lot of people, hold on and grow and grow together.
“This is not a team where you have to force it to go,” Murray said. “You can trust the pass, you can trust the pieces, and we’ve been playing this way for years.”
“Nobody has won more games in the West than us in the past five seasons,” Malone added.
Caldwell-Pope returned to the visitors’ locker room, clapping and smiling from ear to ear. “Eight more, baby!” Hallelujah. “Eight more. Let’s go!” And the Nuggets will face LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers, who upended their recent trip to the Conference Finals. Or, Denver will have the opportunity to dethrone the reigning champs, the Golden State Warriors. Either way, Game 1 of that series begins on Tuesday. Plenty of time To a large number of skeptics to join.
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