Denver Nuggets Player of the Game: Nikola Jokic with perfect triple double.

Nikola Jokic spearheaded a dominating 119-91 win for the Denver Nuggets over the Phoenix Suns at the Pepsi Center, finishing with 35 points, 12 Rebounds and 11 assists whilst shooting a perfect 11-11 from the floor and writing his name into the NBA history books.

Is there an adjective that is stronger than perfect? Flawless maybe? Is there a word stronger than that? I checked my thesaurus and couldn’t find one, but if such a word exists, it is aptly used to describe the performance from Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets on Saturday against the Phoenix Suns.

Jokic became one of two players to record a triple double whilst not missing a field goal (the other being NBA legend and icon Wilt Chamberlain, not bad company). The rim may as well have been ten feet wide for Jokic,  who absolutely bullied number one overall draft pick Deandre Ayton in the low post, looked like a point guard by out dribbling Isiah Canaan for the easy bucket and also stepping out beyond the arc for a perfect 3 of 3 from deep.

The Joker wasted no time stuffing the stat sheet, scoring 9 of Denver’s first 11 points and ending the first half with 23 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Jokic didn’t just dominate on the offensive end like he so often does, his effort on defense was also remarkable, finishing with four steals, one block and derailing the hype train of Deandre Ayton by clamping him down to five points on 2-7 shooting.

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Jokic was apart of a brilliant defensive effort from the Nuggets that restricted the Suns to less than 100 points.  One more cherry on top of this sweet performance by Jokic; he finished the game with zero turnovers.

For a guy who has the ball in his hands so often and controls this Denver offense like Jokic does, I don’t need to tell you how impressive that is. The one blemish on Joker’s performance was one missed free throw out of 11 trips to the line, but when your team wins by 28 points, one missed free throw is negligible.

Coming into the 2018-2019 season, the Joker is looking a lot more agile when moving with the ball. His first three NBA seasons had him looking a little flat on his feet with movement that made it look like he was wearing a pair of concrete shoes.

This has changed now though, with the Joker moving just a step quicker in this game against Phoenix and in the season opener against the Clippers. Jokic also looked much stronger in this game too.  Last season, Joker heavily favored mid range floaters as opposed to getting physical against his defender and attacking the basket. In this game, however, Nikola basically walked down rookie Deandre Ayton and former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler in the paint whilst taking it to the rim.

Improving his strength and quickness has allowed Nikola Jokic to add more weapons to an already stacked offensive arsenal, something that should cause great concern for defenses across the league.

Nikola Jokic will be tested greatly against defending champions Golden State and former Defensive player of the Year Draymond Green when the Nuggets take on the defending champions.

Can The Joker continue his offensive dominance? Time will tell.