Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is a master at his craft. Sometimes, he doesn’t even have to move.
He’ll throw his back to the basket and begin scanning the floor. What defenses will often do is slowly begin rotating over to his side. Numerous eyes are watching his every wiggle.
That typically does one thing: open up the court for the other Nuggets. Swaths of vacant hardwood for players like Aaron Gordon — whom they refer to as “Mr. Nugget” — to wheel and deal.
GettyAaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets during a game.
Many inside the Denver organization have echoed feelings on Gordon. They wholeheartedly believe when the Nuggets star forward is healthy and in the lineup, the team’s chances of winning games skyrocket.
Gordon, 30, has battled a litany of injuries over the last couple of seasons. He has been limited to just 36 games this season with only two tilts remaining on the schedule.
But he appears healthy now and has been in the lineup over this 10-game winning streak the Nuggets are on.
That’ll certainly help with the playoffs looming.
Nikola Jokic Gushes Praise for His Star Teammate
It has been a strange season.
Significant injuries have come for not just Gordon, but also Jokic, Peyton Watson, Christian Braun and key depth pieces in Spencer Jones and Zeke Nnaji.
Stars in street clothes combined with stretches of mightily poor play has engineered an erratic season for Denver. It hit the ground running this season, quickly looking like a top team in a stacked Western Conference. Then midseason happened and so did a lot of losing.
The Nuggets seemingly bottomed out a few weeks ago in a loss to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies. The season felt over for all intents and purposes. Then Denver battled back and has suddenly done something it has never done in the 12 years the franchise’s greatest player ever has been here — win 10 in a row.
A lot of the Nuggets’ late season resurgence has been thanks to the majestic play of Jokic. And a lot of it can also be attributed to Gordon playing consistently again and creating frontcourt magic with the three-time MVP.
“He’s definitely one of the most versatile defenders in the league,” Jokic said following Denver’s signature win over the second-seed San Antonio Spurs on Sunday. “He can guard multiple positions. … Hopefully we can stay healthy, and he can perform like that in the future.”
It was a game that had Gordon’s fingerprints everywhere.
The Denver forward executed an immaculate defensive possession on league MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. That was just moments after he converted a rim-crushing dunk to tie the game.
It was the kind of charming win that lets you sleep like a baby the next couple of nights.
Denver Needs a Healthy Gordon to Stand a Chance
There’s no denying this team has a hill to climb to even make it to the Western Conference finals.
As things stand presently, the Nuggets would play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round of the playoffs. Both clubs were taken down to a Game 7 in the second round a couple of years ago with Minnesota triumphing.
Getting by the Timberwolves likely means a date with these Spurs. San Antonio may have the talent, defense and athleticism, but the Nuggets have the experience. If Gordon is available throughout these games, Denver has to like its chances.
Denver hasn’t been downright terrible without Gordon — it has gone 25-19 without him this season — but clearly isn’t close to its maximum capability unless he’s in the lineup.
The Nuggets have two games to go before the playoffs — both again the top two seeds in the West. Unless both the Oklahoma City Thunder, who locked up the top seed last night, and the Spurs surprisingly play their starters, Denver has the opportunity to finish the season winning 12 consecutive games.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic Drops Major Quote on Aaron Gordon Partnership appeared first on Heavy Sports.