Can anyone guard Nikola Jokic? That’s a question every championship-hungry team must ask themselves, especially Western Conference teams as they will be the ones facing the Denver Nuggets star the most.
Jokic did what he wanted to every defender he faced in his last playoff game. Averaged 30.0 points and 9.5 assists per game, shooting 54.8% from the field and 46.1% from three-point range.. Different strategies against Jokic range from disaster to outright failure.
However, some defenders perform better than others, and some of these strategies leave great numbers behind. Which one is it? It’s time to do some analysis.
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Nikola Jokic’s best individual defender
No one in the league could stop Nikola Jokic one-on-one last regular season. The Serbian’s shooting percentage is as high as 63.2%. Even making half of the shots is considered a huge achievement. Statistically, there are only a handful of players capable of doing this. track allied.
The best players with at least 60 possessions are as follows:
| promote | Jokic’s success rate | integral | Assist | loss |
| Kelly Olynyk | 47.4% | twenty one | 10 | 3 |
| Wendell Carter Jr. | 50.0% | 18 | 10 | 4 |
| Deandre Ayton | 50.0% | fifteen | 10 | 2 |
most success Olynyk That’s thanks to his shooting luck. Jokic shot just 16.7% from three-point range, despite shooting 61.5% from two-point range.
sinkhole Due to his size, he protected the Serbian well throughout his career. Jokic once praised Carter’s wingspan of over 7 feet.
on the other hand, Ayton He had some success early in his career and did a good job of protecting Jokic in the 2021 playoffs. In that series, he limited the Balkan giant to 47.7 percent shooting, especially in the low post.
Ayton hasn’t had the same level of success in 2023. Jokic averaged 35.0 points and 10.0 assists on 57.5% shooting. The extra weapons the Nuggets have and their ability to force the Bahamians to defend them in the open court limits their effectiveness.
although, LeBron Jamesdoes not reach the established minimum threshold, He’s Jokic’s best defender in the 2023 playoffs.he clown He accumulated 4-for-12 and added five losses when he had the Lakers star in front of him.
James has the talent to intercept Jokic’s passes and has the ability to provide good resistance in the low post. But the matchup clearly took a toll on him, and he was only able to do that for a short period of time in the Western Conference Finals.
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Worst player guarding Nikola Jokic
There are players who have zero chance against Nikola Jokic on defense, and those are the worst performers according to NBA statistics. These are the newest linebackers, according to league tracking data:
| promote | Jokic’s success rate % | integral | Assist | loss |
| Jonas Valanciunas | 83.3% | 35 | eleven | 1 |
| Grant Williams | 81.8% | twenty four | 5 | 1 |
| Daniel Gafford | 76.5% | 29 | 6 | 3 |
Jokic has completely dominated Valanciunas more than any player in the league, and the Lithuanian knows it.He congratulated the Serbs and told Mozart Sports “Guys like (Jokic) are born every 100 years.”
When the Nuggets don’t have an elite defense to help them in the paint, they also run roughshod over other smaller players.this is the case Grant Williams and Daniel Gaffordthere was nothing they could do against Sombor.
How to guard Nikola Jokic with smaller players
Celtics get overwhelmed trying to attack Grant Williams About Nikola Jokic. They tried to use Al Horford to help the matchup, but the Dominicans couldn’t provide enough resistance.
The Lakers are trying to replace the Serbian with Rui Hachimura in the playoffs, allowing Anthony Davis to help in that situation. The Nuggets faced no resistance of any kind, sweeping them in four games, but that strategy slowed Jokic at least slightly, especially in Game 1.Overall, in this series, the Serbian has accumulated When Japan defended, it scored 10 out of 25 points, which is not bad.
The Warriors tried this strategy with Draymond Green, the 76ers used P.J. Tucker against Jokic and Joel Embiid in support, and the Timberwolves did the same with Gobert. matter.
As with other strategies, the Nuggets have found ways to overcome this issue.
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Nikola Jokic
The best defense against Jokic is to accept that he doesn’t exist. Thanks to his combination of size, talent and accuracy, the Serbian will overcome any scheme thrown against him.
so, The best strategy may be to maximize the attack Allowing the Balkans to function at the other end of the pitch, where he’s less dominant.
Steve Kerr recently shared this sentiment on the TK Show podcast:
“You can’t just look at it and say: OK, we need a really big, strong guy to guard Jokic. You also have to think: OK, what are we going to do on the other end? How can we do that? A little?” “When you face a guy like that, is the game fairer? It’s about making plays, passing the ball and putting the other team in trouble.”
Warriors use this strategy to eliminate Nuggets 2022. Jokic is averaging 31 points per game on 57.5 percent shooting, but Golden State forces him to cover as much space in the backcourt as possible. Kevon Looney is an excellent defender, however, Kerr only played him for 67 minutes in this series, choosing instead to put better shooters on the floor.
Playing with more offensive players allowed the Warriors to post an impressive 123.1 offensive rating in the series, according to Basketball-Reference. Their attacks exceeded any damage the Serbs could do. They fight fire with fire, which is the only plan that works.