For years, the common theme with the Denver Nuggets has been that they dominate the minutes when Nikola Jokic is on the floor, and get dominated for the few minutes he sits. It has been an almost laughable issue for the team as they’ve struggled to field a solid bench and any semblance of a backup center.
Jokic’s on/off splits in recent years have looked so ridiculous that opposing fans have jokingly chided the Nuggets for intentionally bolstering his advanced analytics to help his case for MVP awards. That’s obviously not been the case, but the bench has been bad enough that it’s not a completely ridiculous thought.