Trying to scheme against Nikola Jokic is no easy task. The big man has the unique skillset of being the arguably the best passer and screen-setter in the NBA today. And, despite his size, he can put the rock in the hoop as quickly as anyone in the game. There’s a reason the Joker is a three-time league MVP and has had the Nuggets as a championship competitor every season.
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So when the Los Angeles Clippers hosted their Western Conference rivals, head coach Tyronn Lue had a unique approach. He attempted to restrict Jokic’s passing and forced him to become the team’s main scorer. How did that pan out? Nikola dropped 55 points and Denver won a runaway game 130-116 to drop the Clipps to 3-8 while they improved to 9-2.
While it didn’t seem like a good plan, that scheme had been effective before. Richard Jefferson spoke in support of Lue’s idea on the latest edition of the Road Trippin podcast. The 2016 NBA champ explained that the four other times Jokic had that many points…his team lost.
“I think it was a good plan. He scored 50 five times, and that’s the first time he’s won the game,” stated Jefferson. “Obviously, it backfired. But if you look at it, even him scoring 50 wasn’t leading to wins for them. So if you’re strategizing, it’s not a bad strategy to try.”
Jokic essentially runs Denver’s offense. He gets the ball at the top of the key and quarterbacks the squad into position, drumming up triple-doubles like he was eating crackers. RJ reiterated that sacrificing only buckets to the big man could work because of how elite his passing is.
“You send somebody out to battle against Jokic solo, you know they ain’t all coming back, but ultimately it can help you win the war. And four other times it had helped them win the war.”
It all comes back to basketball IQ. Jokic is such an elite player not just because of his size, but because he knows where everybody is at all times. It’s almost as if he has perfectly orchestrated each possession in his head before they happen.
Lue’s strategy, in theory, could’ve worked given that Jokic leads the NBA in assists with 10.9 and passes made per game with a whopping 73.5.
NBA legend Paul Pierce once said the same thing about the Joker. The Hall of Famer lauded the three-time MVP during a recent episode of his No Fouls Given podcast. He compared Nikola’s IQ to a pro playing against a bunch of kids.
“To watch how much smarter he is than everybody on the court, how much better he is,” Pierce stated. “It’s like he’s playing with kids, and these are NBA teams. I have a 12-year-old son, that’s what it looks like even today.”
So Lue should hang his head high, knowing that he at least made an attempt to slow down the game’s best player. The good news is that he doesn’t have to play the Nuggets again for a minute. The bad news is that the Clips are not off to the start they were hoping, especially considering how stacked their team is with All-Stars (4-8, good for 11th in the West currently).
The season is still young. James Harden and company could at any point go on a run and return to prominence. The problem is that along with the Nuggets, the Rockets, Thunder, Spurs, and Lakers being off to a hot start, mid-tier teams like the Suns and the Timberwolves have a five game lead on them.
They don’t want to fall too deep down in the West, because it might become impossible to climb out of. Scheming is good if it gets you the win. It didn’t work out for Lue this time, but in the same vein, nothing seems to be working out for him so far.
