Nikola Jokic was hardly the Nuggets' only standout performer last week

Nikola Jokic’s week started with a game-winning basket in Memphis that clinched a 95-92 Nuggets victory. Forty-eight hours later, he tallied 20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists — his eighth triple-double of the season — in a 105-99 win over the Pelicans. Jokic was then named to his first All-Star game on Thursday before leading the Nuggets to a pair of back-to-back victories over the Rockets and Timberwolves, the latter of which reserved an aisle seat for Michael Malone on Denver’s private jet destined for Charlotte and next week’s All-Star game where Malone and his staff will coach Team LeBron.

Jokic was named Western Conference Player of the Week for a third time this season on Monday, becoming the first Nuggets player since Carmelo Anthony (2006-07) to win the award three times in a season. The All-Star center averaged 22.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per game across Denver’s last four wins, but he was hardly the Nuggets’ only player to have a standout week.

Monte Morris

Morris started three of Denver’s last four games for Jamal Murray, who’s sidelined with a sprained ankle, and the Nuggets’ second-year point guard didn’t let his team miss a beat. Across those four games, Morris averaged 16 points on 59 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent from three, 5.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game in 35.5 minutes.

In the 142 minutes that Morris was on the floor, Denver outscored its opponent by 18.7 points per 100 possessions. In the 50 minutes that he sat, the Nuggets were outscored by an average of 32.3 points per 100 possessions. No other player, not even Jokic who boasts a 14.5 Net Rating over Denver’s last four games, can claim those types of splits.

On the season, Morris is shooting 44.4 percent from three-point range. He’s also shooting an elite 48.3 percent on catch-and-shoot triples this year, good for the third-best mark in the league.

Defenses will surely begin to pay more attention to Morris as he patiently bounces around the perimeter waiting to receive a one-handed dart via Jokic or a kick out from one of the Nuggets’ drivers. He’s on the short list to replace injured Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend.

Malik Beasley

Gary Harris isn’t in danger of getting Wally Pipp’d by Beasley, as Denver’s starting shooting guard is currently sidelined with an adductor strain. But if Harris wasn’t as established as he is in the Nuggets’ pecking order, then Beasley might have a case to start for Denver moving forward

Beasley has been electric for Denver over the past week, averaging roughly 24 points on 64 percent shooting from the field and 16-31 (52 percent) shooting from three in his last four games. He’s the Nuggets’ high scorer with 94 points over that span too, which is more than Jokic (88), Morris (64) and Barton (55) have scored over Denver’s recent four-game stretch.

Beasley told BSN Denver last month that he’d rather wait until next season to enter All-Star Weekend’s Slam Dunk Contest, but if he was a part of this year’s event you’d have to think a free-throw line tomahawk jam would be in his arsenal. Just look at some of these sledgehammers he threw down in the Nuggets’ win over the Rockets last week.

I asked Beasley in the Nuggets’ boisterous locker room after Denver ended a nine-game losing streak to Houston if he could dunk from the free-throw line. He confirmed that he can.

Beasley is hitting 43 percent of his triples this season and shot 46 percent from three in January on nearly six attempts per game. From the field, Beasley is shooting 50.6 percent, up significantly from the 41 percent he shot last season. He’s also third in the league in catch-and-shoot three-point percentage (45.4 percent) since Dec. 1.

If Beasley has the split-second he needs to get his feet set, body square to the rim and eyes locked onto his target, he’s going to make the defense pay.

The Nuggets haven’t played their opening night starting lineup since the second game of the regular season. Contributions from Jokic, but also from Morris and Beasley are allowing Denver to take its sweet time in assuring the likes of Murray and Harris are completely healthy before being inserted back into the lineup.