These players can fly
These players can fly
But the star of the playoffs doesn’t jump
BY HENRY ABBOTT
Earlier this season, TrueHoop debated the greatest basketball player in the world and settled on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. One big reason: he had far better defensive stats than Nikola Jokić (97th percentile for SGA, according to Dunks and Threes, compared to 53rd for Jokić).
At that time, though, David added a caveat: It looked like Jokić was simply taking it easy all regular season. With everything on the line, he suspected Jokić would surpass everyone.
On Tuesday, we learned David was right. On the same night, Jokić got his MVP award and control of the series against the Wolves.
According to Justin Kubatko, since losing the first two games of the second round to Minnesota, the Nuggets have had the best three-game stretch of shooting in franchise history.
David could describe all the wrinkles, but to my simpler eyes: The method of the Nuggets’ dominance has been full steam Jokić. Regular season Jokić seldom sprinted and almost never leapt.…
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