Nikola Jokic made his return from injury against the Clippers on Friday.
The Los Angeles Clippers fell to the Denver Nuggets Friday 122-109 to snap their three-game winning streak and unfortunately for the Clippers, they had to face off against the Nuggets with their star Nikola Jokic taking the floor for the first time since suffering a knee injury in late December, and Jokic looked glad to be back.
The Serbian star scored a game-leading 31 points with 12 rebounds and five assists to help take over the game for the Nuggets, but it wasn't just what he was doing at the basket that gave the Nuggets the advantage, but the way he was getting to the free throw line.
While the Clippers only had three more fouls than the Nuggets by the end of the game, Denver finished with 26-32 from the free throw line, more made free throws than the Clippers even attempted.
Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther (3) controls the ball under pressure from Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) and guard Kobe Sanders (4) in the fourth quarter at Ball Arena. Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn ImagesJokic and Free Throws
Jokic went to the line more than anyone, shooting 13-17 from the charity stripe, and the difficulty in guarding him because of his size and strength is only intensified by the amount of fouls that he draws, something that Clippers head coach Ty Lue became painfully aware of as the game went on.
"Very hard. He’s already the best player in the world. He’s smart, he draws fouls. It’s just tough to guard him, puts you in tough positions," Lue said (via Clippers). "He’s already the best player in the world and you can’t touch him because he draws fouls. It’s hard to guard him. He understands that and that’s why he’s the best."
Drawing fouls is an integral part of a player's game and it's a pesky and frustrating trait that not only sets a player up for extra scoring opportunities, but controls the pace and positioning of the floor by forcing an almost total recent of both team's placements.
How Jokic Utilizes Fouls
Jokic pairs that pesky talent with his already impressive and wide-ranging skill set. It's hard enough to stop him as it is with out the benefit he gains from the referee's whistle, especially in Friday's game.
That awareness and mixture of talent is what makes him one of the most unstoppable players in the game or in Lue's opinion, already the best player in the world.
It was certainly the Clippers' bad luck that they had to be the first team to face the Nuggets with Jokic back at the helm and he showed earnestly that he hadn't lost a step in the near-month that he'd been sidelined.