Meet Earl Boykins, human mood ring.
The 5-foot-5 point guard may not start for the Nuggets or even rank among their top four scorers. But statistics bear out that Boykins’ offensive output correlates more closely with Denver’s success than any other member of the team.
In a four-game span, he shot 10-for-36 for 7.0 points per game, and the Nuggets dropped all four. He hit 7-of-10 for 17 points Saturday in a win over Portland and the losing streak ended.
It may be a coincidence, but the season numbers do look convincing. Denver stands 19-10 when Boykins reaches double-figure scoring and 16-3 when he clears 15 points. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are 5-9 when he fails to reach 10 points and went 2-4 in the six games he missed to injury.
Coach George Karl does not want to read too much into those stats, but he was aware of them when asked.
“There’s no question when he shoots the ball well and has a double-digit scoring night, we have a lot of success,” he said.
Boykins, who averages 13.1 points, guessed that his numbers align with his team’s win total because his style of play fits so well with the Nuggets’ goals.
“It was built on speed,” he said. “When I come off the bench and I struggle offensively, it definitely puts us in a hole.”
Karl and forward Eduardo Najera agreed that during Boykins’ recent slump, opponents focused more on denying him the ball and denying penetration when he did get it.
His height makes delivering the ball to him a tougher chore, Najera said.
But he added that when Boykins does get it, “He can score a bunch of points right in a row if he gets hot. He’s a great shooter, great penetrator. He has a great in-between game. He has runners. He has floaters. He can actually finish not on top of the big guys, but somehow under them. And he’s great at getting to the free-throw line.”
Of course, streakiness has its downside. The numbers suggest the Nuggets often fail to compensate for Boykins’ offense when he is off. Things are tougher for him on the road, where he averages 9.8 points, compared with 16 points at home, which he attributes to his comfort with the Pepsi Center and his familiarity with its court and rims.
After Denver lost its fourth straight game last week, Boykins retreated back to his home building for extra shots in the evening.
“Whenever I struggle I go back to the fundamentals,” he said. “I go back to the basics of things that got me to this level. That’s by putting in the extra work.”
Boykins prefers not to analyze his slumps in other ways, saying he does not focus on how teams defend him.
To him, success boils down to making shots or missing them. When he hits enough, Denver’s postgame locker room usually shifts to the right mood.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
