The Spurs were not so lucky in their second game against the Nuggets, who were able to lead the Nuggets by one point in the first quarter, and they began to collapse in the second quarter, and the Nuggets played a 44-27 offensive climax in the single quarter, taking a 16-point lead at the end of the half. Entering the third quarter, the Nuggets blasted another 31-18 offensive climax, and the Spurs had lost the desire to resist. In the end, the Nuggets, who played away, defeated the Spurs 127-112 to complete their revenge. To be honest, the Spurs have been in really good shape recently, but the Nuggets at least have the new regular season MVP Nikola Jokic, and the combat effectiveness is naturally more outstanding.
If the Nuggets want to win the game, they have to look at Jokic's performance, he shot 15 of 24 from 24 of 15 three-point range, including 6 three-pointers, plus 1 free throw, 1 of 35 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, which is simply like no one. In fact, Jokic has performed even better this season than last season, averaging 26.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, shooting 58.2 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from three-point range, compared with 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists from 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 56.6 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three-point range last season. Without Jamal Murray and Michael Potter Jr., Jokic is under more pressure, but he's also doing better.
Jokic is now the benchmark of the league's interior, he is the Nuggets' offensive launch point, the passing vision of the league's top, while Jokic's shooting feel is extremely soft, three-point shooting rate reached 37.1%, ranking 73rd in the league, although not the top stats, but definitely not the handful of players who were let go. In addition, Jokic's mid-range shooting rate reached 53.1%, which is no less than that of Kevin Durant (57.3%), Demar DeRozan (47.4%) and others. However, the best reflection of Jokic's feel is probably not the three-point and mid-range, but his throw.
When it comes to throwing, players like James Harden, Luka Doncic, Trae Young will come to mind for the first time because they often use throwing to finish. In fact, the league also has similar technical statistics, but the league is more refined, and the throwing is divided into three types, namely: holding the ball to break through the throw, holding the ball to break through the board to throw and holding the ball to throw, Harden, Doncic and Trae Young These three players are basically the first two, because they are better at holding the ball to break through, and then combined with the throw to complete the end. Jokic doesn't break through much, so his throwing is basically a ball-holding throw.
So, what is Jokic's level of ball-holding throwing? As of December 12, Beijing time, Jokic has completed a total of 21 ball-holding throws this season, hitting 19 times, and the shooting rate is as high as 90.5%, which can be described as a horror. But why is Jokic's ball-wielding throw at the level that makes Greg Popovich a habble? It all starts with Jacob Pelter, who has improved significantly this season and has become the axis of the Spurs' offense. Pollertl has made a total of 162 shots this season, of which 35 have been with the ball, accounting for 21.6% of the ball-holding throws, which is already Peltel's main offensive means.
Since Pollert uses the ball to throw as his main offensive means, his ball-holding throwing rate must be acceptable, and it is also true that Polll's ball-holding throw shooting rate has reached 51.4%. If you only look at Pelter's shooting rate, it is acceptable, but compared with Jokic, the gap is too bad, Jokic's shooting rate with the ball is 39.1 percentage points higher than Peltl, which is really not a star and a half gap. Therefore, Jokic's ball-holding throw is definitely up to the level that makes Popovich flow, and if Peltel has such an excellent feel, it is estimated that the Spurs will enter the championship.
Text/Duncan's laugh