In Game 4 on Sunday, with just a second remaining, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic called for the ball after Jalen Williams hit two free throws for the Oklahoma City Thunder, pushing their lead to five points.
After receiving the inbounds pass from Michael Porter Jr., Jokic launched the longest shot attempt of the NBA playoffs so far, significant both literally and figuratively. His long, football-style throw from 81 feet out was short and wide, an air ball that Denver reserve center DeAndre Jordan easily dodged on the baseline as the buzzer sounded and he headed toward the locker room.
Even if the shot had miraculously gone in, it wouldn`t have changed the outcome, as it wasn`t a one-possession game. But as Jokic explained matter-of-factly later, forcing overtime wasn`t impossible, just incredibly unlikely.
“Maybe they`ll foul me and maybe they`ll get a tech,” Jokic told ESPN. “You never know what`s going to happen.”
The miss highlighted Jokic`s three-game shooting slump, adding another low-efficiency shot during a prominent storyline of the series against the top-seeded Thunder and their tough defense. In that stretch, he shot 33.3% overall (21-of-63) and 18.2% from three-point range (4-of-22).
Launching long heaves has become somewhat of a pattern for Jokic. If there`s even a remote chance a shot could impact the game`s outcome, he`ll take it, regardless of the distance or how improbable it seems. These attempts offer insight into the competitive nature of the three-time MVP, who has made exceptional production and efficiency seem routine, despite an approach that contrasts sharply with the modern NBA`s emphasis on statistics.
“I don`t care about the percentage,” Jokic stated. “I think every guy should shoot it. Why not? It`s an opportunity to score, so I will shoot it anytime.”
If you removed Jokic`s five end-of-quarter heaves from the backcourt during that particular slump, his efficiency numbers would look significantly better. He has attempted a total of six heaves in the series and seven this postseason. Yet, Jokic remains completely unconcerned with protecting his shooting percentages.
“Nobody should care about that at this time of the year,” Jokic scoffed after scoring 44 points on 17-of-25 shooting in the Nuggets` Game 5 loss on Tuesday.
According to Basketball Reference, Jokic was tied for the league lead in backcourt heaves attempted with eight during the 2023-24 season, when he secured his third MVP award.
Jokic`s policy of never avoiding a long-distance shot to protect his percentage – a common practice league-wide – turned into something of a fascination this season. He actively seeks heave opportunities, attempting 22 in 2024-25, the highest number by any player in a regular season over the 29 years the website has tracked this statistic. His seven playoff heaves so far are five more than any other player in this postseason.
Despite this, Jokic still posted a career-best 41.7% from three-point range this season. There were significant periods when his missed heaves were the primary reason he wasn`t leading the league in three-point percentage.
“Most great shooters care about their stats. Bottom line,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman told ESPN. “We`ve seen a lot of examples of guys taking shots just as the clock goes off or making that late pass to not take a bad shot. For Nikola to shoot the percentage he shoots and still shoot those shots — because, hey, there`s a chance it goes in and a chance it wins you the game — just shows how unselfish he is in all ways.”
Jokic`s Basketball IQ and Time Management `Dark Arts`
Nikola Jokic was fully prepared when Monty McCutchen, the NBA`s senior vice president of referee operations, visited the Nuggets` team meeting room in Abu Dhabi in October. League representatives typically meet with teams in the preseason to discuss rule changes and points of emphasis. These meetings are usually uneventful, save for players chuckling at teammates featured in league video clips.
But Jokic had a specific issue he wanted to address. He knew the league planned to crack down on tactics savvy players used in the fourth quarter to burn clock before inbounding the ball after an opponent scored.
“I don`t think that`s the biggest problem we have in the league and especially with officiating,” Jokic grumbled later.
Jokic happens to be a master of these time-wasting maneuvers. He possesses exceptional hands but would often feign fumbling the ball in these situations. His basketball IQ is remarkably high, yet figuring out who should inbound the ball could sometimes consume valuable seconds. He once boasted that he “stole 25 seconds” during a single possession last season.
When McCutchen mentioned the league`s intent to eliminate these time-wasting tactics, Jokic immediately responded, barraging him with hypothetical scenarios to understand how referees would react.
“He immediately had four other ways that were within the rules and within the spirit of the game and had questions,” Adelman recalled. “He already knew. He had already thought about this. It`s all about just winning the game with him, as good as he can, just finding a way to win a game.”
Such tactics can certainly help secure close victories, but they are terrible for accumulating statistics. Jokic, at 30, already ranks third in NBA history with 164 career triple-doubles, trailing only teammate Russell Westbrook and Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.
Jokic has finished just one assist or rebound short of a triple-double so often that these stat lines are nicknamed a “Sombor Double,” a nod to his Serbian hometown. He has recorded 64 of these, with 47 occurring in games Denver won.
One might wonder how many more triple-doubles Jokic could have achieved if not for his extraordinary time-wasting tactics?
“Who cares?” he replied.
“I think it`s funny, his stats are his stats and he doesn`t chase them,” Nuggets wing Christian Braun told ESPN. “It`s just how good he is. It truly is his impact. He gets 30, 20 and 20, and that`s literally his impact on the game.”
Jokic pays close attention to the time and score during games but pays no mind to individual numbers.
“At home, watching the stats, analyzing stats — that`s not for the players,” Nuggets assistant coach Ogi Stojakovic told ESPN. “That`s for your coaches. So never, ever. It`s forbidden for the players to look at the stats during the game.”
Nuggets coaches track Jokic`s statistics for enjoyment and entertainment, not solely for strategic purposes. Assistant coach Popeye Jones has a large collection of box scores signed by Jokic. The big man has produced several unprecedented stat lines and many others that invoke comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain.
When Jokic has a historic performance, Jones often brings the box score into the locker room for him to autograph. Jokic sometimes expresses surprise before signing. As Jones recounted, “Sometimes he`ll say to me, `What happened? What did I do tonight?`”
The Art of the Improbable Heave
Peyton Watson listened carefully as Jokic shouted instructions across the lane between two Anthony Davis free throws with 0.3 seconds left in the third quarter of a late November game. With so little time, a conventional catch-and-shoot was impossible, but Jokic still wanted to attempt a shot to potentially increase Denver`s 16-point lead. He instructed Watson to loft the inbounds pass high towards his right hand, similar to a post entry pass.
However, Jokic would be standing just above the block on the opposite side of the court from the Nuggets` basket.
“OK, I guess,” Watson recalled thinking. “What`s your plan?”
Jokic was still formulating his plan as Watson`s pass arced toward him. “I don`t know, can I just punch the ball?” Jokic mused. “I think you can do that. So I was kind of trying to push/punch in the same moment. Just like, why not? What if it goes in?”
Officially recorded as a 71-foot jump shot, it looked more like a volleyball serve. For a moment as the ball flew, it appeared it might actually go in, ultimately missing the basket by mere inches.
“I`m thinking, `Bro, if this goes in, I`m part of one of the greatest plays in history,` ” Watson told ESPN. “I`ve never seen a shot so outlandish get so close to the rim. It was crazy.”
Jokic wanted another chance in an early March home game after the Phoenix Suns scored with 0.2 seconds left in the first quarter. He raised his right hand indicating where he wanted the inbounds pass, but to his frustration, Porter didn`t understand. Porter dropped the ball near Jokic`s feet, and he bent over in disgust to pick it up with both hands. After the buzzer, Jokic chunked the ball to the other end of the court, slumped his shoulders, and muttered to himself as he slowly walked to the bench, annoyed that he had been denied an attempt at such a low-percentage shot.
“I did, I did,” Jokic sheepishly admitted about his moment of frustration. “I think it`s an opportunity. Why not? It`s three points. It can be a game changer.”
Jokic`s philosophy hasn`t yielded many makes; he is 2-of-50 on heaves from the backcourt in his career during the regular season, plus another 0-of-12 in the playoffs, although he has made several attempts from 40-plus feet. Both of his regular-season backcourt makes came on one-handed throws this season: a 66-footer at the end of the third quarter against the Sacramento Kings (“I knew it was in,” Jokic said afterward) and a 63-footer to give Denver a 10-point lead at halftime against the Utah Jazz.
According to ESPN Research, Jokic`s two successful heaves were the two longest made shots in the league this season. He is one of only two players in the past 25 years with two made shots from 60-plus feet in a single season, joining Hall of Famer Vince Carter in 2015-16.
Jokic also attempted 12 shots during the regular season that were even longer than his 66-footer, including four from 80 feet or more. On multiple occasions, he grabbed a defensive rebound, quickly pivoted, and fired away. For Jokic, the possibility of three points, no matter how slim, is far more important than preserving shooting percentage points.
“[Serbians] have something that we call basketball gods,” Stojakovic explained. “If you play the game in the wrong way and if you don`t respect the game, basketball gods are going to punish. Same thing — if you play basketball in the right way, basketball gods are going to reward. So you try not to cheat the game. He`s trying to win every exact little margin.”
