Nikola Jokic’s most impressive raw statistical season may never be replicated. The Nuggets are perfectly fine with that.
They recognize that he’s one of the most gifted scorers in the NBA. They’re more than happy to indulge that skill when a matchup or a defensive coverage calls for it. (They have this week.) But they also know his greatest strength — and their greatest strength as a team — is engineering easy offense by committee, by means of motion and creativity.
If they’re going to average 120 points anyway, might as well do it with a more balanced scoring diet than last year, when Jokic set a career-high with 29.