The Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic connection is going much better than expected
By Austin Owens
Way back in the 2008-09 season, a 20-year-old guard by the name of Russell Westbrook joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and took the NBA storm, with fans in awe of his pure athleticism. After 11 seasons with the Thunder and eight All-Star Game appearances, Westbrook moved on.
He has since spent time with the Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and now the Denver Nuggets. In recent years it has appeared that Westbrook's impressive career was starting to fade into the distance until he joined the regining MVP, Nikola Jokic.
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The Westbrook–Jokic Combonation is working
As good as Russel Westbrook has been in his career it is safe to say that he has always had a little bit of a wild streak about him. When he is on the court, everyone knows it. His outspoken personality and fiery competitiveness honestly seem to contradict that mentality of Jokic so it is easy to see how Nuggets fans were a little skeptical of how these two would mesh together. As of late, it has been a dream come true.
Over his last six games, Russell Westbrook is playing like he is in his prime in his 17th NBA season.
When he is at his best, Westbrook has always been a complete player with room for improvement on the perimeter. His 46.4 shooting percentage from behind the arc in his last six games makes the Nuggets a very dangerous team. This significant jump in shooting percentage can perhaps be credited to Jokic who does a great job helping facilitate the Denver offense even from the post.
To go along with Westbrook's high level of performance, Jokic is also having a career season so far, averaging 29.6 points a game and 13.2 rebounds. Both of these are higher averages than Jokic had in his three career MVP seasons.
As well as these two have played together, the Nuggets are currently 10-8. With it being so early in the season, look for these two to only get better with time and teammates around them begin to gel into the system. Come playoff time, the Nuggets could be a really dangerous team.