How Nikola Jokic scored 37 points (!) after halftime against the Clippers

Nikola Jokic has had some incredible performances in his career, but his 37 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, after halftime against the Clippers Wednesday night, might take the cake. Let's break down how he dominated nearly every offensive possession, starting in the third quarter. Serge Ibaka doesn't want to chase Jokic over this screen, so Joker uses the space to tee up a comfortable three. They use that same screen for Jokic against Ibaka. Joker wants to bait him into an upfake and then cut, but Serge stays attached, and then it's just a clear-out post-up, where Jokic is too powerful, and it's a reach-in foul. A minute later, Jokic hits a cutter from the top, and notice Terence Mann is slid way over to help on these kinds of passes, which opens up a three in the corner that barely rims out. So the next trip down, Jokic recognizes Mann's pinched into the paint, and it's an early pass to the corner, with a nice little pin-in screen, and that's a wide-open three. We've talked about this special the Nuggets run before, with this man clearing out to the corner to free up the paint for the roll man, and sure enough, Denver brought it out after a timeout, and Jokic delivers the goods with a perfect pass. On the next trip down, it's just a quick pick-and-roll, and Jokic again drops a perfect pass to the roll man for two on a goaltending. After a non-Jokic trip, and a Michael Malone motivational speech, Jokic launches a clean three with a ton of space, and this is that same screen we started with, where Zubatz doesn't want to get caught up chasing him around the pick. Next time down, Jokic is the screener, and he attacks Zoo's closeout with a nifty stride and finish. Then he uses that three-point shooting threat to pull Zubatz out, only to fly right by him and Euro step at home, and that's a quick 10 points and three assists to start the half. LA tries a third defender on Jokic, and again, they run that inverted ball screen from the guard. Jokic uses his speed edge to attack and kicks it for an open three, but it just doesn't fall. So the next time down, it's a fourth defender, the quicker Justice Winslow on him, and that's an interesting decision to jump Jeff Green, but that actually works out decently for the Clippers, until Jokic goes to work on the offensive glass, and gobbles up some follows like the Cookie Monster, and he nearly gets ejected barking for an and one, until Coach Malone's key save keeps him in the game. With order restored, they just post up Jokic against Winslow, who rightfully panics and gambles for a reach, and that began the parade to the free throw line for Joker. With Denver erasing a 15 point deficit in eight minutes, the Clippers double Jokic off the ball, and then Davon Reed misses an open corner three, only to swing it back to try something on the other side, and after Monty Morris calls his own number, Jokic again pins the smaller Winslow under the rim, and it's free throws from his dominant offensive rebounding. After a few minutes on the bench, Jokic returned with a gorgeous pass from the top, where this cutter slips the corner screen early, if he reads an overplay. Reads like that are rudimentary for a God level passer, so next time down he touches a little give and go, that hits Morris in the hand, but he can't quite finish. Then they go back to that two man screen with Jokic on the ball, and this time it's a little handoff, and with LA going under the screen, that's a clean Gordon triple. With about five minutes left and down by five, they run the two man game on the opposite side, and Zubatz doesn't want to leave the sharp shooting Jokic open, so Morris waits for him to commit, and then pounces when he retreats. With about four minutes left, the Clippers finally switch this Jokic pick and roll, and he still takes man right to the hole, and casually flips it over his head for a wide open jumper, although I do think the Clippers will live with that, and after a Morris three point play, Jokic again pulls Zubatz out high, and just takes him off the bounce with that quickness edge for more free throws. With two minutes to go, a Will Barton three rims out to tie it, but Jokic uses that up fake again to blow by Zu, this time for the hoop and the harm to tie the game at 108. At this point, LA seemed to just ride or die with Zubatz, so after they avoid a switch on that inverted screen, Jokic throws the Serbian Smitty at him, and it's another foul and a trip back to the line. The Clippers were scratching their heads for answers, and so for the umpteenth time, the Nuggets ran the same pick and roll for Joker, but he rejects the screen with a crossover, spins into the paint, and finishes with a bucket to tie it at 112, oh me, oh my. I'm not even mad, that's amazing. LA answered back with a bucket, so the Nuggets spam the same play, and with the defender overplaying, Jokic picks up the handoff at the last second, and springs Will Barton down the lane to tie it at 114. On the Clippers' best defensive trip of the half, it looks like Isaiah Hartenstein tips Jokic's game winner at the buzzer, and so we go to overtime, where Jokic started back up again, this time with a rare miss, only to out-reflex Zubatz to the rebound, and with five fouls on Zu, that's an easy two. I think Ivica had finally had enough, because after avoiding an all-game, he calls for a switch on the two-man action, so Jokic goes right to work, and the other half of that equation is Zubatz staying with the quicker Morris, and it's yet another layup. If you're wondering where the shot-blocking is on all these drives, remember, Zubatz is the shot-blocker, so Jokic's skill set is pulling him out of the paint on all of these plays. With about two minutes to go, LA switches it again, which is ironic, since Jokic just powers his way past a smaller defender, collapsing the defense for a second, but the Clippers recover nicely and avoid any damage on the possession. With the lead up to three, Denver just posts Jokic, and doubling this man is not wise, but a great Reggie Jackson closeout bothers Morris, and there's Jokic again, and after he passed it, he went right to work sealing for inside position to scoop in one of his six offensive rebounds in the half. With Denver trailing by two, he then makes a defensive play, starts rumbling down the court on the fast break, yeah, you guessed it, cleans up another miss to put Denver ahead, 124-123. Nobody could stop anybody at this point, and after a brief bear wrestling match near half court, Jokic sprang free, slalomed his way through the lane for a bucket to go back in front, and there are multiple Clipper wings in the paint, but he just strides and glides around them for the score. Finally, with the game tied in the waning seconds, Denver goes without a timeout, and why would they? They could just give it to the Joker, and remember how I said doubling him is a bad idea? Well, that's true, even 30 feet away with five seconds left, and he fakes to the top to move this defender out of the way. Morris cuts into space, which occupies another defender, and Jokic lobs it across the court to the corner for an ice-cold game-winning triple from Aaron Gordon. An unreal pass to cap off an unreal performance where the Nuggets scored 69 points after halftime on the 45 possessions Jokic played, good for a 153 offensive rating, and an absolute masterclass from Nikola Jokic on a Wednesday night in Denver. To support this channel, check out patreon.com slash ThinkingBasketball. There's a ton of extra content over there, including podcast post shows, live Q&As, and more. Thanks as always for watching all the way through, and of course, I hope you are having a Jokic-level great day.