Tonight in Los Angeles the LA Clippers face the Denver Nuggets. While the Nuggets are not “stacked” they do have one especially dangerous piece: Nikola Jokic.
Jokic is averaging 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Nuggets, and is coming off of a monster 29 point, 18 rebound, 7 assist game against the Dallas Mavericks. The Clippers would normally have 1st Team All-Defensive center DeAndre Jordan ready to cover Jokic, however, Jordan recently injured his ankle and remains questionable for tonight’s game. This is why Nikola Jokic could become a huge problem for the Clippers.
Nikola Jokic is a 6’10”, 250-pound 22-year-old that can shoot three’s like a guard and pass the ball like LeBron James. Despite this being just his third season in the league, he already has a number of jaw-dropping highlights. Fans of every team love watching him play, with some even going as far as to call him “the best big in the league” (don’t worry, we aren’t as crazy as them.) With Jordan possibly out for tonight’s game, who’s next in line to guard Jokic? Blake Griffin, Montrezl Harrell, and Willie Reed.
We expect Griffin to out-play Jokic offensively, but defensively, this matchup could rule in favor of the Nuggets. Griffin isn’t known for his defense, and he won’t be able to contain Jokic to the same extent DeAndre Jordan could. This is where Montrezl Harrell comes in.
Harrell is an efficient hustle-artist. This can be said for how he operates on both ends of the court. While Willie Reed has a little more length than him, Harrell’s activity on defense is higher, making him a better defensive option. He has received an increase in minutes per game thanks to DeAndre Jordan’s injury, and tonight, Harrell’s minutes spent in front of Nikola Jokic and what he does to slow him down are crucial.