In a way, my worst nightmares about Russell Westbrook’s move to the Denver Nuggets have come true: He’s wormed his way into the starting lineup; he usurped the point guard position from Jamal Murray; he shoots the ball quite often; he shoots threes; Michael Malone loves him. And yet, as all of this has happened and Westbrook’s role on the team has grown and become more important, have the Nuggets… gotten better? What the hell is going on here?

The beginning wasn’t so good. At the start of the season, Westbrook sat in the second unit and was tasked with keeping the offense going while Nikola Jokic sat on the bench. The non-joking minutes were always going to be a disaster for the Nuggets, but Westbrook only made things worse. His early-season outings were full of smoked layups, ill-advised dives and reckless plays that defined his season in Los Angeles and marked him as a candidate for an ignominious retirement last offseason. But then injuries began to take a toll on the team, which pushed Westbrook into the starting lineup, and from there the Nuggets just stopped losing. The 23-15 Nuggets are 13-4 in games Westbrook has started, and that’s no coincidence. As a starter, Westbrook averages 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists per game. He also gets two steals per game and shoots 53 percent from the field.

Westbrook didn’t achieve this by becoming a more aware, careful or precise player. He’s still a crazy guy. What he quickly discovered this season, however, is that good things happen when you pass the ball to Nikola Jokic. It feels crazy to type this, but the one-on-one between Westbrook and Jokic has replaced the one-on-one between Murray and Jokic as the engine of Denver’s offense for now. With Murray having to deal with injury layoffs and lethargic performances, it has fallen to Westbrook to be Jokic’s sidekick.

In some ways, Westbrook works even better with Jokic than Murray ever did. What’s immediately apparent when these two are on the court together is Westbrook’s unwavering commitment to getting the ball into Jokic’s hands in advantageous positions, something he does particularly well since he’s the last generation of NBA guards who know how you throw an entry. Westbrook is firing sharp, precise passes to Jokic from all sorts of angles — low jumpers that avoid shins and shoes to find Jokic’s diving hands, high-trajectory balls that fit into windows only Jokic can reach — and the big man has celebrated a result. It’s no coincidence that Jokic is scoring a career-high 31 points per game.

Even the Westbrook-Jokic pick-and-roll, which should be a dud given Westbrook’s lack of shooting ability, is strangely effective. When running a two-man move with Murray, Jokic tends to place the screen high on the floor with the goal of getting Murray into space from where he can either step back into an open three-pointer can, can rush to the rim, or or hit Jokic in the short roll with a pocket pass. However, when Jokic reaches for Westbrook, it happens much deeper, sometimes even to the free throw line. Westbrook’s defender almost always goes under this screen and runs toward Jokic, leaving one defender on his back and one almost on his lap. This is where the game dies: Westbrook has plenty of room to fire a jumper, but it’s useless to him because he can’t really shoot. Jokic has a pretty good post-up position, but he has two defenders surrounding him to block a faceoff pass.

Westbrook and Jokic solve this problem through sheer stubbornness. Westbrook will simply pass the ball to Jokic anyway and place a pass between two defenders, initiating a double team. Here’s where it gets good: Westbrook, still armed with most, if not all, of the volleys he had at age 25, will be tough toward the rim. Jokic will hit him with a perfect pass from the double and Westbrook will be at the basket before the rotating defender can do anything about it.

Through this relatively simple move, Jokic and the Nuggets have more or less solved the late-career conundrum of Russell Westbrook that has plagued coaches who want him on the floor because he is a unique athlete who can grab any rebound and make a fast break he wants can do light speed, but I definitely don’t want him throwing errant passes all over the court and throwing wild layups that luckily find an edge. As it turns out, it’s pretty difficult to turn the ball over when you’re just passing to Nikola Jokic, and nothing results in a cleaner look at the rim than a cut calling for a pass from Jokic. Westbrook is currently shooting 69 percent at the rim, which is the best mark of his entire damn career.

Will this all explode before the Nuggets’ eyes at some point? Possibly! As fun as it was to watch Westbrook and Jokic transform the Nuggets’ offense into a weirder but equally effective version of itself, success in the postseason will be hard to find without Murray getting his act together and his role as Jokic’s favorite dance partner takes again. What we can say for now is that there is no better place for a player to try to salvage his crumbling career than under the warm glow of Nikola Jokic. I think we all know what has to happen next: Ben Simmons gets bought out in Brooklyn and comes to Denver for the league minimum.