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Playing KAT and Mouse vs. Game Winning Assist

One of the best parts of Jokic’s game is his ability to grab a rebound and push the ball in transition. Well, the Minnesota Timberwolves decided they had enough with that after Jokic started the game throwing slick dimes on the run, so they decided to pressure him. Little did they know that Jokic had the handle the escape that pressure as he used some nice moves to throw a creative assist to Wilson Chandler for a dunk.

This game winning assist was creative, skilled, extremely difficult, and earns marks for coming in crunch time. Tied at 124 against the Oklahoma City Thunder with just 1.4 seconds in regulation, Jokic throws as absolute slinger to the opposite side of the floor, leading Gary Harris away from Russell Westbrook to give him an opportunity to shoot the game winner. As we all know, Harris made the shot, but without the creativity and synergy from Jokic to lead Harris there, he may not have had a chance to shoot it.

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Dunk on Nurk vs. Water Polo Shot

The dunk on Jusuf Nurkic holds major significance for Nuggets Nation. After the fiasco created through having Nurkic and Jokic trying to develop at the same time, Nurkic took solace in wishing Denver to have a nice summer after eliminating them from the playoffs in 2016-17. The following season, Jokic took matters into his own hands, dominating Jokic in a December matchup and dunking on him when matched up one-on-one to boot.

One of Jokic’s signature moves scoring the basketball is catching it with his right hand off a rebound or a pass and going immediately back u with a touch shot. This move was introduced to Nuggets Nation in a game against the New York Knicks, and it lived in infamy ever since. The coordination it takes to do this in a live game is mind boggling.

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Joker and the King vs. Shot Pass to Millsap

It takes guts to take on LeBron James in the post, but Nikola Jokic did it in just his second season. The build-up to the play was electric, as the Pepsi Center knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as LeBron switched onto Jokic in the post. Jokic turned, backed the King into the middle of the paint, and threw up a controlled right hook directly into the basket. LeBron didn’t give him an inch either. Jokic took it from him, proving he was a player on the rise once and for all.

The Shot Pass to Paul Millsap this year dazzled fans around the NBA. In a sequence of great ball movement, Jokic caught a ball on the left slot ready to fire an open three-pointer. Out of the corner of his eye though, he spotted a cutting Millsap, so Jokic went directly from his shot motion into a lob pass to Millsap, who laid in the ball easily. Many thought Jokic’s shot was blocked, but this was a controlled action by Jokic, showcasing his passing brilliance once again.

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Tap Pass to Lyles vs. Trap in the Corner

Every year, Jokic decides to try something new, something NBA fans simply haven’t seen before. The tap pass to Trey Lyles is one example. Normally, a player receives a post pass and then makes the decision about what to do with the basketball. Not Jokic though. As the ball floated into Jokic’s fingertips, the Serbian center tipped the ball directly to a cutting Lyles, who dunked it home with ferocity. The play shows how Jokic understands how his teammates and opponents move and operate spatially. Lyles expected the pass from Jokic, and Jokic got it to him in the quickest ay he knew how, a creative use of the tip pass.

In perhaps Jokic’s best game of his young NBA career, he had a triple-double going into halftime against the Milwaukee Bucks. He wasn’t done though, as he received the ball in the post looking to do more damage. Instead of panicking in the face of a trap by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jokic waited for Juancho Hernangomez to cut to the paint and threw a pass behind his back, around a defender, for Juancho to hit a quick layup. There are maybe four people in the NBA who could make that play. Three of them are LeBron James, and the other is Nikola Jokic.

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