DENVER — It was a brushstroke of brilliance on a painting crafted hundreds of times before. Nikola Jokic pump-faked from the top of the key, coaxing Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma’s right foot a step too high. Two dribbles came to get past Kuzma, and a left-to-right spin to shed him, setting up the threat of a hook.
Only the Joker had concealed his cards perfectly, spotting Aaron Gordon creeping behind a snoozing Bucks backline. As he spun, Jokic tap-shoveled a pass to Gordon for a wide-open slam. The play baffled Milwaukee center Brook Lopez, turning in the opposite direction of the ball. It baffled the greater NBA sphere, as only Jokic can — an instantly-viral highlight from the Nuggets’ 127-117 win over the Bucks Saturday night.
It did not, however, baffle Michael Malone.
“When we start getting that play,” the Nuggets’ coach said postgame, “I know that our offense is firing on all cylinders.”
Denver had treaded water in their MVP’s absence, sitting in the dead middle of the league in points-per-game across the last five games. But they didn’t have that. Their no-secret foundation, for years, has been to get the ball to Jokic — “the best playmaker in the world,” as Malone put it — and let him orchestrate reads to shooters and cutters.
Quietly, though, it’s a foundation they’ve lacked for much of the year. Gordon’s been in and out with injury. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun have both missed a game in the last handful. As Malone pointed out Wednesday, Denver has played with their usual starting lineup just 21 of a possible 74 games in 2024-25.
“Which is kinda crazy when you think about it,” Malone said.
At long last, though, the Nuggets have some stability. That hinges, first and foremost, on Jokic’s health.
The three-time MVP looked plenty spry in a 39-point triple-double on 16-of-25 shooting after a stretch of nagging elbow and ankle injuries.
His — and Jamal Murray’s — absence from a nationally-televised game against the Warriors in mid-March spawned another round of incessant load-management takes, with ESPN’s Tim Bontemps calling it a “horrible look for the league.” But Malone emphasized Wednesday night that Jokic’s five missed games “were not rest games,” and Jokic said Wednesday he wasn’t able to jump on his left leg.
“It was really painful, and it was just better to feel good,” he said postgame. “And I don’t want to be on the floor and be nervous because I cannot play how I want to play, and on the level that I want to play.”
It felt “weird,” Jokic put it, to miss any time, a man who’s played in over 90% of all possible contests dating back to 2020-21. But he looked well-rested Wednesday. He dunked. He no-looked. He left Lopez repeatedly in the dust, a 7-foot tornado spinning his way through a herd of Bucks.
“I feel much better than I thought it was going to be … I still feel (it) a little bit,” Jokic said postgame, “but it’s much, much, much, much, much less than it was before.”
Gordon, despite seeing his minutes slashed amid foul trouble, returned to familiar hangouts around the corners and dunker spot after a scoring flurry in Jokic’s absence. Braun rode cuts and spot-ups and hustle plays to 19 points and three 3s. And forward Michael Porter Jr. shrugged off a brutal shooting slump to go 6 of 8 from deep against the Bucks.
Porter, too, has been struggling with injury. He was dubbed questionable with a lower-back injury Wednesday before clarifying postgame the issue was actually his hamstring, a nagging tightness since tweaking it before the All-Star break. It had thrown off his balance and power on his shot, he explained.
“There’s definitely been games where I probably should not have played due to just, little, a hamstring tightness or an ankle,” Porter said. “But, especially when there’s some guys out, I think it’s important that if you can be out there, to try to be out there.”
Just eight games remain until the postseason, with the Nuggets trying to find cohesive minutes again among their regular lineup combinations. But the starting lineup’s lack of time together was no issue for Jokic.
“They’ve been through a lot of battles,” Malone said of that core five. “And they’ve won a lot of battles.”
“And we’re going to need them to continue to play at a high level,” the coach continued, “as we try to find a rhythm with that group.”
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