He’s not just back. He’s behind the back.
We won’t lie: Your friendly neighborhood Grading The Week crew had our collective hearts in our throats during the first half of Nuggets-Clippers at Ball Arena late Friday night.
Would Nikola Jokic’s knee hold up? Did the three-time NBA MVP, the Front Range’s passing prodigy, our hoops hypnotist, still have the goods after a month off the floor?
By the fourth quarter, there wasn’t any doubt.
Floater? Still there.
Sombor Shuffle? Still sweet.
3-pointers from the top of the arc? Swish.
Behind-the-back-dribble to set up a floater in the lane? Money.
No-look passes to cutting teammates? Ask Peyton Watson, whose two-handed slam off a Joker dime with 4:05 left put the hosts up 113-97.
“I was not scared of it,” Jokic told reporters when asked about the left knee he’d hyperextended in Miami on Dec. 29. “I was not scared to use it or thinking about it when I was running or playing. So, I think thatap a good sign that I’m ready.”
There were others, too. The 31 points. The 12 rebounds. The five assists. The three steals. The eight makes on 11 tries from the floor. All in a span of just 25 minutes. The Big Honey averages about 35 minutes per game. Which means if Jokic wasn’t on a “pitch count,” he was a pace for 43 points, 16 boards and seven assists. All after a month on the shelf.
Nikola Jokic’s return — A
Even the timing was classic Joker. The Nuggets won, 122-109. At one point, the Clippers clawed back, trimming Denver’s cushion to 100-95. Jokic then went on a 1-man, 8-2 scoring run, and his teardrop with 5:22 left put the Nuggets up 108-97.
The pick-and-roll was back, and Murray and the Joker had locked things down to the point where coach David Adelman emptied the bench for the final two minutes.
No, the Clippers aren’t the Thunder. They’re not exactly the Kings or Pelicans, either. The Clip Show hit the floor having won nine of its last 10 games. L.A. had scored fewer than 110 points during that stretch against one other team — Detroit (in a 98-92 win), because nobody really does that to the Pistons, either.
“I really think the One from upstairs protected me,” Jokic told reporters after the game. “And He knows that I did everything how itap supposed to be, and I was hoping He would protect me.”
If the Man upstairs takes requests, we’d love a little Light to shine on Aaron Gordon’s right hamstring and Christian Braun’s left ankle going forward. But with Joker rolling like he never left, any Miracles between now and Valentine’s Day would feel like we’re playing with Holy House Money.
Shedeur Sanders to the Pro Bowl — C
Team GTW would suggest reading the Pro Bowl its last rites after the whole Shedeur Sanders kerfuffle this week, but that ship sailed long ago. If a game we — and, frankly, most of the American viewing public — stopped caring about years ago wants to simply play for clicks from here on out, who are we to stop them?
The Pro Bowl itself — F
But if you’re going to go full popularity-contest-mode, Commissioner Goodell, can we make one suggestion? Don’t toe-dip into the idea of turning the Pro Bowl into sort of an MTV Rock N’ Jock clone. Steal that format outright. Have the NFL legends who’re coaching their respective teams draft random celebrities to play in the game. Have Shedeur throwing it to Timothee Chalamet on a seam route, for all we care. Just don’t prop it up as the best of the best anymore. Because that’s gone now. Just like those TV eyeballs.
