Wind Chimes: Nikola Jokic is rebounding like crazy this season, but why?

Welcome to Wind Chimes, a notebook of reporting, observations and analysis from me about what I’ve seen, heard and talked to people around the team about over the last week.

Let’s talk about rebounding. It’s not sexy. It’s not cool to rebound. Rebounding doesn’t get you trending on Twitter. A big rebounding game won’t trigger a push alert from Bleacher Report or ESPN. But it’s important. Rebounding is vital to a team’s success. And to the Nuggets, it’s been one of their staples throughout the Jokic Era.

Nikola Jokic’s rebounding has leveled up this season. He’s gone from averaging 10.8 rebounds last year, which tied a career-high and was the 10th-most rebounds per game in the entire NBA, to pulling down 13.5 rebounds per game this season. It’s the second-most in the league behind Rudy Gobert (14.8 rebounds per game).

But what makes him a great rebounder and what’s behind his big jump in rebounding? I watched all 323 of his rebounds so far this season to try and find out.

First, the Big Tipper

Jokic has some of the best hands in the NBA, and his ability to tip the ball to himself or others has always been a weapon. By now, he’s perfected it. Jokic isn’t in position to rebound this miss vs. Miami earlier this season but is able to get one hand close enough to the ball to tip it back to himself.

Some of his best rebounds are of this variety.

You also see the tip come into play when Jokic knows he’s not going to be able to get the rebound by out-jumping his opponent. Max Strus is going to out-jump Jokic on this play, but by getting just a finger on the ball, Jokic can deflect it to himself even though he can’t grab the ball with two hands while it’s at its peak.

This was one of Jokic’s best rebounds of the season. Jokic boxes out Karl-Anthony Towns, then has a size advantage over Josh Okogie and Malik Beasley. He tips the ball to himself until he can get two hands on it. He’s the only Nuggets player crashing the glass while all five Timberwolves players are around the paint.

He just wants it more

Jokic emerges from so many possessions with a rebound simply because his motor doesn’t stop.

Towns is in position to grab this rebound, but Jokic just out-works him.

Here, Jokic gets an offensive rebound off his own miss over three Spurs players, including Jakob Poeltl.

Jokic just out-worked John Collins for this offensive rebound and putback.

And this one over Steven Adams. Jokic’s reaction speed and timing pops here.

The stuff you can’t teach

With his left arm pinned by Bam Adebayo, Jokic suction cups this rebound out of thin air with his right hand, brings it into his body, and fires an outlet pass to start a Nuggets fast break.

That’s special stuff right there.

But why is Jokic corralling almost three rebounds per game more than last season?

“I don’t know,” Monte Morris said. “He’s so good. He’s the best player I’ve ever played with. Every year he adds something to his game. I think him slimming down, he’s so much more mobile now.”

“He’s big time. Hall of Fame type player.”

I posed the same question to Jokic after his 19-rebound effort vs. the Wizards last week and asked him if it was a point of emphasis coming into this season.

“I think it just happened to be like that,” Jokic said. “It just happened to be like that.”

By the way, Jokic has four 19+ rebound games already this season. Last year he had just one game where he recorded at least 19 rebounds.

Personally, I think it comes down to a few different factors. First off, the Nuggets rank 5th in Defensive Rebounding after finishing the season 6th in Defensive Rebound Percentage last year. They’ve maintained that ranking despite losing Michael Porter Jr. and the 5.8 defensive rebounds per game he hauled in last season. Jokic’s increased rebounding is why. He’s taken it upon himself to make up for losing Porter. Will Barton’s the only other Nuggets player to up his defensive rebounding numbers significantly this season (3.3 to 4.5 per game).

I’ve got to think Jokic’s increased athleticism, as Morris touched on, has something to do with the spike too. Jokic’s second jump looks as good as ever and he has the energy to battle three or four defenders for a single rebound, even though his usage on offense has never been higher. That’s a credit to the shape Jokic is in this season.

Finally, his feel around the basket is insane. Jokic’s ability to read how a ball is going to bounce off the rim is elite. He’s always anticipating where a rebound is going to go and usually beats his man to the spot.

Also, and this is significant: The fact that shooting is so down across the NBA this season helps rebounding numbers. More missed shots = more rebound chances.

Even for Jokic’s efforts on the defensive glass, the Nuggets’ overall rebounding numbers are down this season. Why? Denver is struggling to offensive rebound. Last year, the Nuggets ranked second in offensive rebounding. This season, they’re down to 26th. Jokic is offensive rebounding at around the same rate he did last year, but a lack of a backup center has killed Denver on the offensive glass. Isaiah Hartenstein and JaVale McGee were the Nuggets’ best and second-best offensive rebounders last season. Denver lost Porter’s 1.5 offensive rebounds per game too.

Jokic can’t do it all himself.

More Chimes

Jokic’s triple-double that wasn’t

Remember Nikola Jokic’s near triple-double against the Wizards from last week? Before Tony Brothers tossed him in the fourth quarter, Jokic posted a monster 28-point, 19-rebound, 9-assist stat line in just 31 minutes but finished one assist shy of a triple-double.

Or did he?

This flip to Monte Morris surely looked like it would count as Jokic’s 10th assist.

But it didn’t, even though Jokic got credit for an assist on an almost identical play in the first quarter.

The Nuggets reached out to the league about a possible stat correction, a source told DNVR, but to no avail. The NBA wasn’t going to award him No. 10. In fact, Denver was told that if the league did open up an inquiry into Jokic’s stats from that night, it might end with them taking away his first-quarter assist to Morris instead of giving him credit for his 10th. Jokic’s first assist, according to the league, was iffy.

Jokic’s 63rd triple-double would have to wait but just for two more nights. He recorded No. 63 in Denver’s next game against Minnesota, which moved Jokic past James Harden for the 7th most triple-doubles in NBA history.

Zeke can move his feet

I loved this defensive effort from Zeke Nnaji against Trae Young from the first quarter of the Nuggets’ road win over the Hawks. Young gets Nnaji out beyond the 3-point line on a switch and puts him in the mix. But Nnaji’s length and reaction speed allows him to bother this 3-point try after Young puts him through a series of moves.

It’s a great example of one of Nnaji’s most enticing traits as a defensive weapon. He can defend in space and stay with much smaller ball handlers. It’s impressive for a 6-11 big man who was playing center at Arizona two seasons ago.

A Vlatko sighting

There weren’t a lot of positives from the Nuggets’ loss to the Timberwolves. Michael Malone even said postgame that the lone positive from the night was PJ Dozier walking into the locker room before tip-off and reuniting with his teammates and coaches for the first time since he underwent ACL surgery earlier this month.

But I bet this chase-down block by Vlatko Cancar earned him a shoutout in Denver’s next-day film sessions from Malone.

Anthony Edwards won’t get this lax on a breakaway dunk for a while.

Facu Magic

Here’s the wildest stat from the last week of Nuggets basketball: Over Facu Campazzo’s last seven games, he has 41 assists to just four turnovers.

Forty one to four.

Against the Wizards, Campazzo had five helpers, all of which were highlight-level plays. Campazzo had the cajones to throw these five assists in the same freaking game.

“Facu Magic is amazing,” Jeff Gren said last week.

Indeed it is.

***Question of the Week***

“I first fell in love with the Nuggets during game 1 of the 2020 Jazz series, the first sports game I had ever watched, when Jamal Murray went off towards the end of the game. Later, I asked my then-boyfriend who the guy was that was scoring like crazy. He’s a Jazz fan, and answered “Donovan Mitchell,” to which I replied, “no, the one on the good team.” My love for Jamal and the Nuggets was solidified during game 6 of that series with Jamal’s epic performance and emotional interview, as the Nuggets won yet another potential elimination game. Seeing the team, led by Jamal Murray, come back from a 3-1 deficit when I myself was struggling, helped me find something worth fighting for too.”

Thanks for the replies. It’s pretty cool to see how diverse the readership is here at DNVR and how many different moments made you become fans or fall in love with the Nuggets.

My response to the question would be the 2009 playoff run. I had honestly followed college basketball more closely up until then but really got to know the Nuggets during that postseason. I was in high school in Boulder and went to one home game every round with the same group of close friends. Denver won all three games I attended. I was at the 121-63 Game 4 win over Chris Paul and the Hornets, the series-clinching Game 5 win over Dirk and the Mavs, and then the Nuggets’ Game 4 home win over Kobe and the Lakers. It was a hell of a run.

Here’s this week’s question:

What’s your favorite weekend activity?