The List: The rhythm of the Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray offense

1. PJ Dozier has the physical tools and feel for the game to be a very good and versatile defender. Both things were on display in the clip below as Dozier attacks his man on the closes out but manages to stay in front of him on the drive. His length allows him to wall off the easy angle at the basket and he does a great job of attacking the ball after the gather.

2. Vlatko Cancar isn’t the most gifted player but he does all of the little things at a very high level including setting ball screens with the strength and sturdiness of an oak tree. Watch how he lays the wood down and holds his ground before releasing toward the basket.

3. With only seven healthy bodies, Michael Malone had to get creative with some of the lineups that he threw out onto the court. Here, Nikola Jokic is joined by three point guards in Jamal Murray, PJ Dozier, and Monte Morris but still manages to run the break like a traditional point guard himself. Here, two perfectly timed screens, one on the ball and the other above the break, create a perfect opportunity for a back door cut.

4. Jokic did a great job all night of sticking closely to the roll man in the pick and roll (PnR) while stunting at the ball handler enough to keep him from getting all the way to the basket. In the clip below, Morris sticks to Mike Conley’s left hand to take away the floater. Look closely and you’ll notice that Conley switches hands at the last minute and winds up with an airball.

5. Jokic and Murray have perfected this simple inbounds play, a staple of their offense on baseline out of bounds possessions.  What makes the play work is the threat of Jokic on the block and the ability for Murray to curl the screen into a shot, perfectly angling his attack to draw Rudy Gobert away from the basket while still being able to get a shot off.

The two have great chemistry on this play and have scored out of this action in almost every conceivable way over the last few years.

6. Another example of Jokic keeping the ball handler away from the restricted area while still taking away the lob threat. This might’ve been Jokic’s best game at this specific detail. His lighter weight might be at least partially to thank for his improved defense in the PnR.

7. When you are the last option on offense, one of the most important things you can do is avoid wasting possessions. Forcing shots, drives, or passes can be a death sentence. Torrey Craig demonstrates the value of passing up a shot even when it seems as though you have fully committed to a drive.

8. Vlatko Cancar entered Wednesday night’s game with just 21 NBA minutes under his belt but here is orchestrating traffic on a possession that keeps the ball poppin’ before grabbing an offensive rebound and drawing a foul. Keeping the ball poppin’ and communicating with your teammates goes a long way toward getting everyone on the same page.

Cancar was forced to play some of his first minutes in the NBA at the center position, a spot he’s likely played very little of over the course of his professional career. He handles it with poise and even looks a tiny bit like a mini Jokic.

9. One thing Dozier is very good at is setting up his defender before attacking the PnR. Notice how he uses the initial screen before hitting his defender with a crossover and drawing Gobert away from the paint.

10. So much of “Jokic-ball” is about every action being followed up by a perfectly timed secondary action behind it. The rhythm of the offense becomes a steady beat of one action to the next, a cut, a pass, a drive, a kickout. All flowing one right into the other. Here Craig’s slip leads to Harris’s dribble handoff, which leads to a give and go to Jokic, which leads to a kickout to Morris. Every beat perfectly in sync and in rhythm.

The Full List