Nikola Jokic had a good game last night. It wasn’t a great game and certainly not one of his best but with the Nuggets up 30 points, his best wasn’t needed. It also wasn’t needed that he’d throw a no-look, over the head, around the triple-team, into tight coverage pass to Will Barton for a dunk. But Joker gave that to us anyway.

Seriously, his pass to Barton was one of the best passes I’ve ever seen. That’s not an exaggeration, I can’t think of too many passes that were as creative, difficult, absurd, and just plain perfect as that one. Let’s break it down.

  1. Jokic grabbed a fairly tricky offensive rebound by using his velcro hands. He has this way of corralling in rebounds with one hand that is under-appreciated.
  2. He is immediately triple teamed as D’Angelo Russell sinks down and starts swiping at the ball. This is the Joker, DLo. You aren’t going to get a steal that easy.
  3. He doesn’t even look over his shoulder but somehow sees Barton out on the wing. Think about that. He doesn’t turn his head but out of the corner of his eye he sees a guy 20 feet from the basket.
  4. Barton isn’t even open when Jokic begins the pass. Jordan Clarkson is between him and the ball so even a regular, forward facing chest pass would’ve been a bit tricky.
  5. But why make a chest pass when you can throw a no-look, over the head pass with perfect precision?

This play was absurd. We’ve never seen a guy like Joker. What a time to be a Nuggets fan. Check out the highlight. Then watch it again. And again. This guy is so skilled!