Picked, rolled

Nuggets’ Jokic uses pinpoint passing to carve up Magic

MAGIC

In between the free throws and the late out of bounds call referees missed during the Orlando Magic’s loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, there were still other issues that kept the Magic from pulling off a victory over the NBA West-leading Nuggets.

The chief concern was the Magic’s inability to defend the high pick-and-roll against one of the league’s best teams at executing it, especially since the Nuggets have big Serbian Nikola Jokic, the best passing center to grace the NBA in a long, long time.

One has to really dig into the past to come up with comparable 7-foot passers, like perhaps fellow European Arvydas Sabonis, the Lithuanian post player whose career was cut short by injuries. At his best, he was a finesse passer, especially for his size at 7-foot-3, 300 pounds. There were others like Bill Walton, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and more recently Joakim Noah, Demarcus Cousins, and Al Horford. All of those players averaged more than five assists during at least one season.

Jokic, however, averages eight assists a game and he seems to particularly enjoy playing against the Magic. He posted 13 assists against Orlando during the 124-118 overtime victory Wednesday night and he had 11 assists during the Nuggets’ win over the Magic last month in Denver.

With Jokic working the high post, Denver players are at an incredible advantage. Jokic’s vision and knowledge of where his teammates are at all times is uncanny.