Nikola Jokic was within the Nuggets follow room final Friday evening, going by way of his traditional postgame exercise routine, when his head coach visited him.
Michael Malone does not really feel the necessity to apologize to Jokic for the heavy minutes: “See his wage? I imply, come on, man,” the coach joked — however he needed to verify on his beginning middle with a sport left in Denver’s lengthy homestand.
“I do know once we’re within the second quarter and there is 10 minutes left on the clock and I say, ‘Nikola, let’s go,’ you have a look at me like that,” Malone recalled saying two nights later , imitating an expression of drained disbelief. “‘Coach, already?’ And I reply: “Sure, already, brother. »
The wage: $51.4 million this yr, a determine anticipated to extend by greater than $4 million subsequent season.
Minutes: 38.1 per sport, tied for fourth within the NBA after Jokic led the Nuggets (7-3) to a 122-120 victory in opposition to Dallas.
“Thirty-eight is definitely an excellent quantity,” Malone mentioned half-jokingly whereas working by way of the rating after the win. “I’m fairly pleased with it. We stored it beneath 40 years previous.
THE thrice MVP has touched the 40-minute mark in three of Denver’s first 10 video games, together with Friday. That’s a threshold he’s solely crossed 4 instances throughout all the 2023-24 common season. His common was 34.6.
However these 38.1 minutes are why Denver got here out of the weekend with a five-game successful streak and the sixth-best document within the NBA. Jokic ranks fourth within the league in scoring with 29.7 factors per sport, first in rebounding with 13.7, first in assists with 11.7 and ninth in steals with 1.7. All of those numbers are profession highs, aside from rebounding. (He as soon as had a 13.8 common.)
“I feel I am taking part in rather well,” Jokic mentioned, “and I hope I can proceed to play like that. … It isn’t simply because I am placing up good numbers — not excellent — that I am doing it. There are lots of people behind me.
However the margin for error is simply too slim for Denver to depend on these behind it. 5 of the Nuggets’ wins got here on the final possession in regulation. 4 of them had been precisely two factors forward. Their staff web ranking of two.7 ranks twelfth within the league. Their level differential is plus-98 with Jokic on the ground and minus-58 with him on the bench.
“He will get it,” Malone mentioned. “He’s a warrior. However I’ll say this. I do not know the way sustainable it’s to play Nikola 38-40 minutes each evening. Let’s be sincere. We’re at 10 video games. We are actually 7-1 in our final eight video games. And it is nice. However we additionally want to seek out methods to proceed to seek out different choices off our bench.
Dario Saric was the primary choice. He is been out of the rotation for the previous 4 video games after a disappointing begin as Jokic’s backup middle. (“I used to be actually unhealthy,” he advised the Denver Put up. “That is how I really feel.”) Then DeAndre Jordan stopped by for a half-game. Since then, it is Zeke Nnaji’s flip. The 23-year-old posted a handful of encouraging particular person moments, however the outcomes had been principally comparable for the bench as a complete.
For a clip from the fourth quarter on Friday, Malone fully deserted his middle rotation. The seek for options led him to Peyton Watson at 5, an act of positional improvisation that in some way labored in opposition to Miami. However Malone desires to be selective about when he joins this ultra-small-ball lineup sooner or later.
“I feel it is one thing that if we needed it to be (common), it is one thing we may go to. However while you try this, you truly scale back your turnover,” he mentioned. “And clearly, after solely 9 video games, that is most likely one in all my greatest issues proper now’s ensuring we do not put guys on the ground with a lot basketball to play. “
Malone enters each sport hoping to maintain Jokic within the 34-35 minute vary, which is kind of in step with profession averages. The middle is a passive spectator of his personal use, by no means asking for a cap on his taking part in time. When video games are shut, Malone’s reflex is to show round, scan his bench and direct Jokic towards the scorer’s desk .
When each sport is shut, it solely takes two minutes to really feel the withdrawal of the MVP.
The perfect variety of minutes per match to play Jokic?
“Forty-eight,” Malone mentioned, laughing.
That remark got here two hours earlier than Sunday’s victory, a magnum opus that nobody, together with Jokic himself, had ever matched. He grew to become the primary participant in NBA historical past to document 37 or extra factors, 18 or extra rebounds, and 15 or extra assists in a sport.
Each a type of stats was mandatory, proper all the way down to the game-tying offensive rebound and scoring drive with 49 seconds left.
“I assume after tonight’s efficiency, he’ll most likely be fifth in early-season MVP voting,” Malone mentioned sarcastically afterward, “so he simply has to do extra for us.”
As soon as once more, he was joking. However was he?
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