Calling Nikola Jokic’s hook shot with 28 seconds left in the game a “game-winner” is stretching my credibility a little thin, but you know what? It was kind of a game-winner in the sense that it put the Nuggets in the lead for good. Also, if I put the words “game-winner” in the title of a video, that video is guaranteed to perform at least 1.3 times better than a video without those words in the title. It’s a scientific fact.
Recently I coined a term for a late-game shot that can be considered clutch in its context: a “blibbum”. So the true title of this video is “Nikola Jokic 24 Points/1 Blibbum Full Highlights”. However, this term has not entered the average basketball fan’s lexicon yet, so to use it in such a prominent place would evoke more confusion than it would excitement. I have to ease this word into use slowly, carefully, so that, by the time it enters general use, nobody’s even realized what happened. It’s not like I went out and bought advertising space inside NBA arenas explaining the concept of a “blibbum”. I’ll just let it happen naturally.
So, back to Nikola Jokic. His blibbum aside, he was, surprisingly, mostly a bystander for the Nuggets’ 25-point comeback against the Grizzlies. He didn’t get any assists in the second half, and his fourth quarter scoring was limited to four points. However, two of those points were probably the most important points of the game, so I won’t hold it against him.