There was a lot to like from Nikola Jokic as the Denver Nuggets defeated the LA Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs. Still, despite Jokic bullying Rui Hachimura, Emmet Ryan felt there were clear areas of improvement for the Nuggets and one slight point of concern
When the fourth quarter came along, it was business time for Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. In truth, they never should have been the scrap they found themselves in for much of their win over the LA Lakers
An ignoble sacrifice
The Lakers made an interesting choice in this game. They opted to put Rui Hachimura as the primary defender on Nikola Jokic. It might as well have been a white flag being shown to the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers were happy to give free offensive reign to the best player in the NBA right now in order to target the rest of the Nuggets.
The decision had somewhat predictable results. Jokic treated Hachimura like a turnstile. Even when the Nuggets trailed by as much as 10 at one stage, this match-up jumped out. Every time Jokic sought battle with Hachimura, the result was inevitable. It was, in short, a poorly executed plan by the Lakers.
There is merit in such a choice, it’s not entirely foolish. The goal for the Lakers was to increase pressure on the rest of Denver to deliver. For much of the first half, the other Nuggets simply didn’t.
A drift to be mindful of
Defensively, Nikola Jokic was by and large his usual reliable and effective self. That was, at least, when he was involved on that end. The Lakers had tremendous success in the first half controlling the flow of play in the half-court. Their wanting to move possession away from Jokic was obvious. That they could do so while still routinely creating high value opportunities for the first 24 minutes should concern Denver.
Far too often it was easy for the Lakers to keep Jokic out of the discussion, never mind the contest, when LA was trying to create opportunities. As with most of the other kinks in this performance from the Denver Nuggets, it was largely righted by the second half.
Still, for a side like the Lakers to be able to do this so often and with such relative ease should be cause for film study. There are far more mobile and talented opponents ahead in the playoffs. They need to force Jokic into the debate more on both ends.
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What the stat-line didn’t show
In a shock to roughly nobody, it was another great boxscore for Nikola Jokic. The Serbian big man delivered his usual superb numbers for the Denver Nuggets. Jokic finished with 32 points (on 15 of 23 shooting), 12 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals.
The assists part of the line stood out while watching the game. Such a line would imply that Jokic was off ball a bit more than usual for the Nuggets. He wasn’t nor was it a case that he was proving less efficient as a creator. The big man should have probably hit his final assist tally by the half.
Jokic was abusing Hachimura throughout but he wasn’t just spamming drives to the bucket. The quality of shot chances he was creating for others was high but the Nuggets simply weren’t executing adequately. Considering all the gags about the Despicable Me 4 teaser that Jokic was in, it was bizarre to see the Denver minions looking so out of form.
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This might be a short series
With the Denver Nuggets, the one real concern in this series is the possibility of being distracted by the bigger goal. This season is all about going back to back with NBA championships. Forgetting how to take care of business in Game 1of Round 1 can be a natural symptom of that distraction.
The Lakers need a better plan than sacrificing Hachimura if they are to reduce the impact of Nikola Jokic. That’s far from easy when the alternatives, including doubling or taking a platoon approach rotating LeBron James and Anthony Davis, create obvious holes.
Over commit to Jokic and you open doors for Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aaron Gordon, and whoever else is queuing up for open space. Sacrifice someone like Hachimura, and the Joker can go takeover mode on him. There’s no obvious solution for Darvin Ham and the Nuggets know it.
It’s business as usual for Denver’s Gru. He just needs to get everyone else on the same page this NBA postseason.
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