Is Nikola Jokic Bouncing Back?

Mar 4, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) guards Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the second quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Nikola Jokic is finally showing why Nuggets fans were excited about him at the beginning of the year.

Nikola Jokic seems to be finding his niche again after a shaky start to the season.

After struggling in the “Jurkic,” lineup that Coach Malone tinkered with, he is thriving in a role coming off the bench.

His field goal percentage has improved to an impressive 54% this year and is making a case to be the starting center with his play as of late. Both his free throw shooting and effective field goal percentages have been boosted this season.

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His free throw percentage has improved to 82.5% and his effective field goal percentage has gone up to 56.1%, about 2% better than last year’s total. While Jusuf Nurkic has been relatively quiet, Jokic has been one of the bright spots in Denver’s front-court.

In the 4 games that the Nuggets have been played this month, the Joker is averaging an efficient 18 points per game. This is about 10 points more than he averaged last month.

Jokic also possesses a nice player differential of 5.5 in the month of December, which is more than double his differential in November. This statistic vastly outshines Nurkic’s differential in the 4 December games of -10.6.

Let’s also not overlook the 3 double-doubles he has collected this month either. If Nurkic continues to put up relatively pedestrian numbers with Jokic showing flashes of the potential he has like he did this summer, then we may see Jokic inserted into the starting lineup soon.

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Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter if he is coming off the bench, or starting for the Nuggets, it is great to see Big Honey excelling again.