Over the past two years or so, Nikola Jokic has proven to be the boogeyman in the league. Unfortunately, the Lakers are matched up against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs and their weaknesses are being exposed by Jokic and Co. During a recent appearance on the Run It Back show, former NBA star John Salley explained why Anthony Davis has failed his matchup with the Joker.
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AD has easily been the Lakers’ best player on the court in the last two games that they have played against the Nuggets. Despite being the highest scorer for his team, there are a lot of things that Davis still needs to work on. One of them being his killer instinct. On the show, Chandler Parsons outlined the poor second-half performance from the nine-time All-Star in Game 2 and highlighted that AD only had eight points in the entire half. Parsons asked Salley if this exposes AD’s inability to match up with Jokic.
Salley admitted that Jokic is arguably the hardest man to play against at the moment. The 59-year-old has played with and against arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, Michael Jordan. So, it’s fair to assume that Salley’s standard for measuring greatness is pretty high. He said, “I don’t know what doesn’t keep your motivation, this killer instinct thing that I know most players should have, especially when you’re in the pros. At one time when guys were in the pros, they had a lot to lose…these guys don’t have a lot to lose.”
The four-time NBA Champion hinted that AD lacks the killer instinct that compels athletes to always be on top of their game. In addition to that, the 2020 NBA Champion lacked the hunger to win, that was so prevalent in the 90s. Salley’s statement holds a lot of value when we consider the fact that the Lakers have lost the last 10 games in a row against the Nuggets. More importantly, the Nuggets have ruined three of the LA side’s special nights this year, namely the opening game of the season, Kobe Bryant’s statue unveiling, and LeBron James’ 40k point game. Still, there’s been no special spark from the Lakers to beat this opponent.
Anthony Davis vs Nikola Jokic head-to-head
In terms of stats, Davis scored 32 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists in game 1 and 32 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists in game 2 to become the highest scorer for his side on both the outings. However, as we have seen, his efforts have not been enough to get the Lakers their first win in the seven-game series. Comparing AD’s numbers to that of Jokic can really put things into perspective.
In Game 1, the Joker scored 32 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, and then took it to another level in game 2. In the second game of the series, Jokic played for 41 minutes and scored 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists, completing yet another triple double. It’s not the scoring ability that’s proving to be a shackle for the Lakers, but it’s the players’ lack of consistency and inability to show up during clutch moments. As per Salley’s criticism, this is what creates a major gap between the two teams and gives the edge to the Nuggets.
