With their first-round playoff series tied at two games apiece, the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers are heading back to Denver. The Clippers face the formidable challenge of containing Nikola Jokic, who has been dominating the series.
Through four games against the Clippers, Jokic is averaging 28.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 10.8 assists, and 2.3 steals per game, while shooting 54.4 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three. In Game 4, Jokic delivered a monster performance with 36 points, 21 rebounds, and eight assists, lifting the Nuggets to victory and evening the series.
Do The Los Angeles Clippers Actually Have A Game Plan?
The Clippers, led by head coach Tyronn Lue and with Ivica Zubac as the primary defender on Jokic, are now tasked with determining their defensive strategy against the three-time NBA MVP, NBA Champion, and Finals MVP. Lue, however, offered cryptic responses when asked about the Clippers’ specific plans. “We’ll see,” Lue stated, reiterating the phrase when pressed for details.
Lue emphasized the importance of the team’s overall defensive identity, particularly at the start of games. “We know we’ve got to start the games better,” Lue said. “Games 2 and 3, they had 16 points in the first four and a half minutes, and in Game 4, they had 20 points in the first four and a half minutes. We’ve got to start games better, especially with a defensive identity.”
He added, “All these games are the same. You’ve got to be ready to come out and compete from the start. You’ve got to have an attack mentality on both sides of the basketball, and you’ve got to go from there. I thought last game, they came out and attacked us early and kind of had us on our heels to start the game.”
Despite Jokic’s impressive statistics, Zubac remains focused on the team’s overall performance. “Don’t get bored with the process,” Zubac said. “It’s what he does. It’s what he’s been doing for years now. He averaged a triple-double for the season. It’s what they do, it’s what he does, that’s how they play. That’s it. You shouldn’t be discouraged by looking at the other player’s stats, you should be discouraged if you’re down 20 or something like that.
You shouldn’t be discouraged if he’s got a triple-double and the score is good for us. We’re focused on winning. We’re not looking at the other player’s stats and being discouraged by that. We want to win the game. We know how to play this team. We beat them twice. We know what it’s going to take, and it’s just making sure we’re locked into our coverages, that we know what we’re doing every possession. They made some adjustments, they did some stuff differently, we went over that. And the vibe is pretty good.”
Game 5 between the Clippers and Nuggets is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7 PM PST on TNT.