The advanced numbers, though, are downright jaw-dropping: He leads the NBA in value over replacement player, box plus-minus, win shares per 48 minutes, player efficiency rating, estimated plus-minus, and FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR and wins above replacement metrics. Jokic’s basic counting stats are impressive enough he’s on pace to become only the fifth player ever to average 25-10-5 more than once, joining Giannis, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, and peak unleashed Russell Westbrook post-KD in OKC.
The other, as luck would have it? Giannis, in the rampaging start to what would become his second straight MVP. I mean, just look at this shit:įresh off a 22-19-10 triple-double to beat the Hawks and then hanging 28-9-9 on Portland in a breezy 28 minutes of floor time, Jokic is now just the second player in NBA history to score more than 300 points, pull down more than 150 rebounds, and dish more than 75 assists in the first 12 games of a season. At the moment, though, Jokic is doing more than presenting “a truly compelling case.” The Nuggets head to Dallas riding a five-game winning streak, sitting third in the Western Conference at 9-4, in large part because Jokic’s encore to turning in one of the greatest offensive seasons in NBA history appears to be producing an even better one. That may well be how it shakes out an awful lot can happen between now and the “pencils down” call for voters at the end of the regular season. There are probably several reasons for that, including the idea that, in a league replete with transcendent talent, the people who vote on year-end awards (which, for the past two years, has included me) would be more likely to cast their ballots for someone else than to make Jokic just the 13th player ever to go back-to-back, even if he had a truly compelling case. Entering Monday’s game, Doncic still sits just ahead of the reigning MVP among betting favorites to take this year’s crown, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Other brilliant superstars like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Giannis Antetokounmpo have nudged past him in oddsmakers’ eyes. But Doncic’s career-low shooting efficiency, dips in points and assists per game, and a rocky overall offensive start under new head coach Jason Kidd-the Mavs rank just 19th in points scored per possession-have dimmed his shine a bit. At many sportsbooks, the MVP pick was Luka Doncic, another young European star, whose Mavericks will host Jokic’s Nuggets in Dallas on Monday. Despite winning Most Valuable Player in a landslide vote last season, Nikola Jokic didn’t enter the new campaign as the favorite to repeat.
0 kommentar(er)
