Nikola Jokic is an all-timer. He's a three-time MVP and a finalist for his fourth. He's widely considered the best basketball player in the world. But Jokic's going through more than a rough patch from beyond the arc, and it's got the Nuggets offense backed into a corner in their playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jokic is a career 36.2% three point shooter. He shot 41.7% from beyond the arc last year, and prior to the All-Star break, and mostly prior to his knee injury, Jokic was shooting 42% from downtown.
But post All-Star break, Jokic's three-point percentage drops to just 31.6%. And over the team's final five games of the regular season, that number dropped to just 21.4%.
And now, through two playoff games against the Timberwolves, Jokic is shooting 3-14 from downtown, in line with his final five games at 21.4%. The Timberwolves are dropping Rudy Gobert into the paint and daring Jokic to shoot it, and he's not making them pay, and it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon.
Jokic's wrist problem could be the culprit
It must be Jokic's wrist that is causing him to shoot so poorly from downtown. He's been dealing with the discomfort since around the same time as he returned from the knee injury. And it seems to be getting worse.
The Timberwolves want to force Jokic into scoring. They take away the pass and the backdoor cuts. And they're going to continue to give him the wide open looks if he's going to make 1 out of 5.
The Nuggets' offense looked out of step in Game 2
The offense looks out of step with the way the Timberwolves are applying pressure, and the lack thereof, to Jokic. The Nuggets can shoot with the best of them. They were the best three-point shooters in the league percentage-wise, but they're at their best when Jokic is getting pressured, and he's dishing 15 assists. He was only able to get to 8 assists in Game 2.
And in Game 1, the Nuggets shot just 27.8% from three. They shot 36.6% in Game 2, but Jokic's misses from deep helped add up in the loss. And the Nuggets had just 40 points in the paint, largely due to a lack of back-door cuts because of the Timberwolves defensive strategy.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves again outshot the Nuggets from the field and from three, just like in Game 1, but this time they won. The Wolves shot 41.2% from deep and 47.8% from the floor. The Nuggets are going to have to overcome a few hurdles to get back out in front of the series. The two teams head to Minnesota tied at one game apiece.
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