The Nuggets outlasted the Lakers in Game 1, but LA made a key adjustment down the stretch to slow down Nikola Jokic. This detailed film breakdown & scouting report analyzes why Jokic was so successful attacking Anthony Davis, and what the Lakers did in the 4th quarter to help turn the opening game around in the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
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Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
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https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
Music by csus (instrumental)
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43 Comments
Crazy on all your review. DRussel is so trash on defense.
In the 4th quarter. Without that shitter. Lakers made a comeback
But denver can't stop AD
Nah, the Lakers will wear down guarding Jokic. Also, size matters and nobody is literally talking about this. The Nuggets have the size and length to dominate the board.
can the Joker consistently dominate like this? And LA is still a very dangerous and flexible team, Denver needs to make constant adjustments to counter that.
Subscribed for more lakers content 🎉
Series is gonna be a classic
The man gave up 40 points on the other end. He's dog meat on defense and it's going to cost the nuggets the series. Don't double him. Give late help or single cover him with Anthony Davis. They'll cancel each other out for the most part because he doesn't have a chance in hell of stopping AD. If they make jokic look to score the ball and take away the assist the team productivity will suffer and they will lose. I don't care if jokic has 50 cause he's going to give up 50 on the other end. All in all… Not enough defense for nuggets. Lakers in 6.
1:47 we dont teach flop
This is like an average game for Denver, they might win in 5
Nuggets in 6
Lakers 4-1
The main thing the Lakers have to do is press up on Jokic if he's bringing the ball up the court. They're going to have to stop that and get him to give it up early.
These Damn moths are everywhere @ 3:24
Thank you. I been seeing so many videos hyping up the AD/Jokic matchup for a week now. Since the warriors series I knew AD could NOT be guarding Jokic or any other 3pt shooter or the paint is left wide open. It'll be horrible. Wish Ham realized that and didn't start 3 damn guards.
the nuggets will adjust to lakers defense. Only problem is they probably can't stop lebron and AD from getting favorable matchups in the paint for easy buckets. But on that note, will AD stay this aggressive for the whole series? His motor is questionable…
I know Mike Malone watching this.
AD did great 👍
This is absolutely amazing analysis. This is what fans are missing in the sports media right now a breakdown of the strategy. It's so nice to get away from the narratives and hot takes and acknowledge the skills of each team. Think I found my new favorite channel
The Lakers made the correct adjustment to remove AD and post him at the paint as a secondary layer of defense for cutters and mid shooters. Then put Hachi to body up Jokic but this strategy will not work again. The Nuggets will try to pull away AD from the paint by shooting at him from 15 feet or making 3s.
Moth jumping in for some analysis at 3:25
I hate to say this but they need Rui and Lebron to guard Jokic without the double. Like ham said it's about mobility. This leaves AD to roam on everyone else.
Jokic will have a great game again but it's the others that need to be stopped
Now the question:
what should Denver do about these 2 adaptations by the Lakers (the murray x lebron matchup and rachimura x jokic -with AD on the coverage)??
Doc Rivers gave the blueprint
Lakers need a Jokic counter counter.
BlankBoy called it
Refs gonna be targeting Jokic and get him in foul trouble. They'll probably use some Hachimura excuse when Hachimura is getting away with all kinds of fouls that will frustrate Jokic to a bs flopping offensive foul.
We can all agree that he never disappoints us with his content :D.
One problem with having AD cover Gordon is that LeBron then needs to cover someone else. But who? He'll have to work more on the defensive end, which isn't great for the old guy. Give and take, I guess.
we need you guys to explain jimmy butler and the heat lmao they're insane
https://youtu.be/DyQJ5t7Xh8E?t=203 am I trippin or is that a fuckin bird that just flew around the camera?
AD hasn't faced a quality center the entire playoffs let alone the Joker of course he's been great defensively against all lil men
This is why I love the game with talented bigs, brings the chess back to basketball
Not the mvp
Everyone wants the Lakers to win and is an expert coach in the comments lmao 😂
I think what the Nuggets can do is this.
They have 3 on the weak side with 3 defenders. The guy on dunkers/corner should backdoor cut towards the other side, and make AD think whether to chase him or let him go and overload Joker's defender 2 on 1 and let him make the choice. If he chooses to stick to joker, that's a free shot on the corner. If not, then Joker can go 1 on 1 with AD and make him work.
Playoff basketball really does bring out the brains and I love it
This Lakers team will just perhaps spend time on the topic how to deal with Nuggets and Nikola. By the time they discuss it thoroughly the Nuggets will be up 3 – 0 n on their way to wind up the series. The simple story here is Nikola n Nuggets are a well knit team, their passing is the key n have a lot of scorers on the other side the Lakers is a depleted side with LeBron and Anthony expected to do everything n as a result the Lakers are already drained and tired n rather stretched in the series. Nuggets are ahead right now and it's heading to a 4 – 1 or even a 4 – 0 result
Great video!
yup rui on Joker for 42mins for 6 games is the way to go..
Same reason Giannis doesn’t guard the best player. Good offense beats good defense. He has more value as an off-ball defender than as an on-ball defender.
Lakers have to fight harder over screens. At 4:51 AD gets the blame, but they're intentionally sagging off to keep AD in position to guard Jokic off the screen. LeBron has to immediately recognize & fight over it.
Ham realized it wasn't working & just put Rui on Jokic so AD could roam to help while also protecting the rim. I believe the Nuggets will make an adjustment, & I'm interested in seeing how AD will come out game 1.
He has to come out immediately and make his presence felt on both ends, but most importantly on defense.
Suns should've done this as well when Jokic was unstoppable. Have Ish Wainwright guard Jokic with KD and Ayton lurking
Joker’s triple threat game is amazing. If this continues, will definitely on his way to match LBJ and Curry’s status
nuggets was leading.
if they actually have the counter for the counter, they dont need to show it just yet. if the lakers did not show the figured out counter, then that is a morale lowering loss
also lakers got buried by 20+ before they could figure something out. they need to make that atleast less than 15 for better chances of winning.
denver needs that unpredictablity and bury the other team 30+. if they figure you out. just keep up with them high percentage shots.