One of the biggest questions coming into the preseason surrounding the Denver Nuggets was whether or not three-time MVP Nikola Jokic's three-point touch would come back. It was gone at the end of last season, and the inability to knock down the deep ball was one of the factors that did the Nuggets in against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Well, it took five preseason games, but Jokic gave Nuggets fans an emphatic answer in the Nuggets' 121-106 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. And it's a resounding yes!
Jokic's three-point shot was a dilemma for the Nuggets' offense after the All-Star break, having developed around the same time that a small wrist issue popped up when Jokic returned after missing 16 games with a knee injury. The issue wasn't enough to slow Jokic down in any other way, but he was often seen with an ice bag on his wrist when he was on the bench. It led to him shooting 31.6% from beyond the arc after the break, and a putrid 19.4% in the playoffs, after having shot a blistering 42.0% prior to the All-Star break.
Jokic will open the offensive spacing back up
The wrist doesn't seem to be an issue now, and after warming his way up through the preseason, we finally saw the Jokic of the first half of last year, and it was a glorious sight for Nuggets fans to see. Jokic knocked down 3 of his 4 attempts from three against the Lakers, and finished the preseason 4-for-7.
The offense with Jokic making more shots from beyond the arc just gets more spacing and doesn't allow the opposing center to sag off him to dare him to shoot. Rudy Gobert was able to let Jokic float out and fire up a clanker. It clogged up passing lanes, and there was no space for a clean cut or slash to the rim.
But against the Lakers, after Jokic sank his first three, new Lakers center Walker Kessler had to start patrolling the perimeter more, and the Nuggets had more slashes and easier buckets at the rim without Kessler in the paint. The Nuggets finished the game with 56 points in the paint, totaling 46.3% of their total points.
Jokic also gets to avoid some of the physical play that gives him more fits on the inside by knocking down more shots from three. The less physical play for Jokic, the less wear and tear, the better.
Sure, it's a small sample, but there weren't many games during the second half of last season where Jokic's three-point shot looked as good as it did against the Lakers. And the Nuggets had their best game of the preseason. Coincidence? Probably not.
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