The clutch time has been a big problem for the Nuggets this year. Since Feb. 1st, their record in clutch games is just 6-9, and it's now 19-19 on the season. However, after Nikola Jokic's game-winner against the Phoenix Suns, the Nuggets have won two clutch games in a row, and they're 5-3 in clutch games this month. The Joker has both game-winners in the clutch. Is he changing the script back to the old clutch Nuggets? Maybe.
Four of the five wins this month have come against teams currently occupying playoff spots, and two of their three losses have come on last-second shots by MVP candidates on those playoff teams, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for the Lakers and Thunder. And the Nuggets may have been victims of a bad call by the refs in the Lakers game, too.
They could very easily be 7-1 in clutch games this month, and they'd be sitting in third place or tied in the Western Conference, battling with the Spurs for second. They're not, but these last two games of clutch Joker can go a long way to putting the Nuggets on a new course in the clutch for the rest of the way.
Jokic had an MVP-caliber night against the Suns
Not only did Jokic have the game-winner of the 125-123 victory over the Suns, but Jokic had one of the better games the NBA has seen this season, scoring 23 points, grabbing 17 rebounds, and dishing 17 dimes, while turning the ball over only twice.
That stat line has only been done five times since 1964, and Jokic's now got three of them.
It was the kind of stat line that even had head coach David Adelman calling Jokic "the best player in the world."
Jokic had a lot of help from his friends in the fourth
Aaron Gordon hit a big three, and Jamal Murray scored four points in the final five minutes to help the Joker seal the win for the Nuggets. Murray had a huge fourth quarter, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the final frame, and he's really taking the reins in the clutch along with Jokic and putting the Nuggets on his back.
In the last clutch win against the Raptors, Murray scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and had 5 in the final five minutes of clutch time. The excellent clutch play from Murray adds fuel to the fire that the Nuggets made a correct bet on his max contract extension last year.
The formula is there for the Nuggets to have a strong finish to the season and a deep run into the playoffs. These last two clutch wins, forming a broader three-game winning streak, the Nuggets' first in two months, could be the start of a new script on the clutch narrative.