The Joker has become a problem in the league in the last two years or so and teams are yet to find a solution for it. Nikola Jokic has been very dominant this season and seems to be comfortably on his way to leading the Denver Nuggets to another NBA Finals appearance. However, two-time NBA Champion Rajon Rondo recently revealed the plan that might work against Jokic, during a recent appearance on All The Smoke podcast. As it turns out, Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns sits at the center of Rondo’s plan.
Advertisement
Rondo said that when Dwight Howard was with the Lakers, they were able to contain Jokic successfully in the postseason. He took credit for being part of the last team to not let the Joker manipulate the game at his will, during the Lakers’ 2019-20 championship run. Rondo mentioned that it isn’t going to be easy for other teams to do so this year. In fact, the 2020 Lakers were only able to do it because they had three seven footers in the squad, Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee, and the Superman, Dwight Howard.
So, according to the seasoned veteran of the game, throwing a couple of seven footers against Jokic is the only way to handle him. The 38-year-old added that a team like the Minnesota Timberwolves can restrict the Nuggets star because they have two skilled big men in KAT and Rudy Gobert. “I think the team that has the best shot, it will probably be the two 7-footers that Minnesota can throw at him,” Rondo told Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
As for the other teams in the West, Rondo added, “If I was in a West Coast team, my two bigs would probably be watching Joker the entire year.”
Many teams have tried blitzing Jokic in the past by throwing big men at him. However, the Nuggets have elite ball movement in the perimeter which allows them to move the ball to open players for uncontested shots. Besides the Joker’s passing skills are also something that can be used to counter a double-team.
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets this season
Jokic is surely going through the best phase in his career so far. The Nuggets are the defending champions and are presenting a very strong case yet again for Championship favorites. The Nuggets have a 54-24 record so far in the league and they have only lost eight of the 40 games that they have played at home.
According to StatMuse, the Joker is averaging 26.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, and 1.3 blocks, while shooting 57.8% from the field. Jokic is also leading the chart on the KIA MVP Ladder and is on track to bag his third season MVP title in the last four years. Safe to say that the Nuggets are unmatched on almost every aspect of the game. Moving forward into the tougher phase of the season, other teams might want to take a look into the plan laid out by Rondo.
