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Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have been the surprise story of the NBA over the first two months of the season, running out to a 21-9 record and sitting in first place in the Western Conference at the start of play on Thursday night. It has been due in large part to a balanced offense, with six regular players averaging over 10 points per game. The Nuggets have also had one of the defenses in the league.
But there is one big factor in their success that TNT analyst and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley says could not be overlooked.
“Right now the only good story in the NBA this year is the Denver Nuggets. They've been fantastic … I said a month ago, two months ago, the Denver Nuggets are gonna be a surprise team of the NBA. But also I'll go a step further, I think (Nikola) Jokic should be the front-runner for MVP right now.”
The 23-year-old center has been outstanding in his fourth NBA season, averaging 18.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and a career-high 7.4 assists per game. And with a shooting percentage of just 29.8 on three-pointers this year, the interesting part about all of this is that Jokic has room to improve. He shot 39.6 percent on threes last season.
Outside of Jokic, the Nuggets have received a major contribution from 21-year-old point guard Jamal Murray. He is averaging career-highs in points (17.6) and assists per game (5.1), while his shooting average from three-point range has also been down from last year. The Nuggets' core is extremely young, as well, with an average age of 24.8 years among their top-10 players in minutes played this season.
