Lakers might have figured out a formula to defend Denver’s Nikola Jokic

[ad_1]

The Lakers devised a plan on how to deal with the force of nature that is Denver’s Nikola Jokic, a counter plan if that didn’t work and an “escape plan” if that also went sideways against the two-time NBA most valuable player.

As it turned out, the escape plan the Lakers employed in the fourth quarter became a powerful tool and thwarted the effectiveness of Jokic the final 12 minutes.

Yet, overall, the Lakers didn’t do enough early to slow Jokic. He scored, posting 34 points on 12-for-17 shooting, making all three of his three-pointers and seven of eight free throws.

He collected rebounds, grabbing 21, six on offense.

He dished out assists, handing out 14.

It resulted in a triple-double for Jokic, his third straight and fourth in his last five games in these playoffs. This one, in a 132-126 victory, helped the Nuggets open a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Confernce finals.

“Again, it’s not any one coverage that you are going to be able to stay in versus that dude,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “There’s not one person that’s going to stop him. It has to be done by committee and you have to switch up matchups at times and you have to switch up coverages.

“We didn’t want to go too deep into the in-game adjustments. It’s still that ultimate chess game. So, we were comfortable with the results, gave us a chance to get back into the game and it’s one of the things that if we need to go back to it’s there — along with several other things that we didn’t unveil tonight.”

Anthony Davis started on Jokic and had his hands full, same as every other player guarding him in the playoffs.

But what helped the Lakers slow down Jokic was putting Rui Hachimura on him in the fourth quarter and allowing Davis to roam while keeping an eye on his man, Aaron Gordon.

It worked and made Jokic a bit hesitant when he got inside because Davis was lurking. In fact, Davis blocked a Jokic shot late in the fourth quarter.

It worked because Jokic scored only three points in the fourth quarter, all on free throws.

It worked because Jokic missed both of his shots and had two turnovers.

“Something that we went…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakers-might-figured-formula-defend-052445678.html?src=rss

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2023-05-17 05:24:45

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.