Nikola Jokić has increased his level of production in each passing month of the 2019-20 season. Following a slow start (by his standards) in the fall, the Serbian big man has played at an MVP level over the first two months of 2020, most recently putting together one of the most impressive months by any player in the league in February.
Denver’s two-time All-Star averaged 25.5 points, 10 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game across 10 February games. Even more impressive is Jokić’s efficiency in those games, as he shot 64.2 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from beyond the arc and 87.8 percent from the charity stripe.
As a result, his 70.6 true shooting percentage marks the highest he has posted in a month during the season and is a significant improvement on his already-elite 61.1 true shooting percentage over the course of the entire season.
Jokić’s play was a leading force in Denver’s 6-4 February, which included an improbable win over the Utah Jazz on the second night of a back-to-back on the road with only seven players in the rotation. In that 98-95 victory, Jokić dropped 31 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in 40 minutes of play, which included a key go-ahead “Sombor Shuffle” fadeaway with under a minute remaining.
"Yeah, he’s a First Team All-NBA center for a reason,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said following one of Jokić’s dominant performances. “He wins games, he hits game-winning shots, and he makes the right play."
Although it was in a tough overtime loss in Detroit, Jokić also had a 39-point triple-double against the Pistons, which ranks near the top of the list of the Serbian’s most dominant performances this season.
If his performance in Denver’s first game in March is any indication (23 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in a convincing win over the Toronto Raptors), it looks like Jokić will only continue to dominate over the remaining 20+ games of the 2019-20 regular season.
Check out some of Jokić's best plays from the month: