Now that the fireworks smoke has cleared from the Denver Nuggets’ exciting Game 1 win, the Oklahoma City Thunder will regroup and try to avoid a disastrous result in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Everything for the Thunder starts with how they defend Nikola Jokic.
Jokic was sensational and dominant in Game 1, scoring a game-high 42 points on 15 of 29 shooting to go along with 22 rebounds. But the Thunder can feel good about one thing Jokic-related: His six assists to seven turnovers.
Regarding the age-old question of whether to turn Jokic into a passer or scorer, the Thunder chose the latter. Sort of.
Typically, a team that tries to make Jokic shoot will put their biggest body on the Joker and stay home on the Jokerets. The Thunder defended him with one of their biggest bodies, but still strategically doubled and roamed the passing lanes, practically daring Jokic to find his open teammates.
But then they did the thing that only the Thunder can do. They used their collective anticipation to generate clean steals. Of Jokic’s seven turnovers, four were of the bad pass variety.
In the first half, Alex Caruso snatched a potential highlight and Cason Wallace ended a breakaway like Spider-Man interrupting a bank heist. By the third quarter, they had gotten to Jokic The Passer so bad that he was seeing ghosts.
But Jokic is the ultimate problem solver, and he made his adjustment in time for Denver’s raucous fourth-quarter comeback. He retreated from the low post and started operating in more space from the perimeter.
It forced one of Oklahoma City’s big bodies away from the paint and opened up cutting lanes.
It unlocked the Jokic-Jamal Murray two-man game and those bulldozing drives against whatever poor sucker was between him and the basket.
(Shout out to Aaron Gordon creeping in the dunker spot in this clip. His presence as a lob threat prevented Chet Holmgren from contesting that shot. Jalen Williams helped off Russell Westbrook to contest, but Jokic might as well have had a piano on his back the way he walled him off with a simple turn.)
Holmgren struggled in this one. He was a minus-14 in 28 minutes and got crushed on the boards. The Thunder started the game with him roaming off Gordon, Rudy Gobert-style, to make things difficult for Jokic. That was the vision when the Thunder signed Isaiah Hartenstein to pair with Holmgren, after all. But it’s harder to play that roamer role than you think.
It’s not just a matter of timing a double-team and contesting a shot. You have to be aware of everything on the court, what your assignment is doing, and whether or not it makes sense to help.
(The easier job is arguably being the one to defend Jokic 1 on 1. You might get muscled, but there’s not as much nuance. This is why the Timberwolves used to have Karl-Anthony Towns body Jokic while Gobert acted as the roamer.)
The Thunder tried having Holmgren tussle with Jokic as the game went on, but that didn’t go great for Oklahoma City’s favorite stringbean.
Jokic is both the NBA’s greatest problem-solver and biggest problem. The Thunder learned that on Monday night as Jokic broke down their defense in real time. Now the Thunder have some pictures to refer to when preparing for Wednesday night’s Game 2.
Even after giving up home-court advantage, they should still be the favorites to win this series. They have the personnel to make things uniquely difficult on Jokic and led for 80% of Game 1. A few more bounces go their way in the end, and we’re talking about a valiant Denver comeback that fell short.
(Or maybe if they elected not to foul up three while Jokic was on the sideline with 11 seconds left.)
But the Nuggets got a game and now they have a chance. The Thunder will need their A-game to win this series.
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NBA news roundup
In an ending you had to see to believe, the Pacers rallied back from down 20 at halftime to cut the deficit to seven with 50 seconds to go.
Tyrese Haliburton hit the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left after rebounding his own missed free throw. He grabbed the ball in traffic, stepped out beyond the arc and sank a jumper that stunned the top-seeded (and short-handed) Cavaliers.
After two games in Cleveland, the Pacers lead the series 2-0 with two games upcoming on their home floor.
“It's hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.” That’s what Steve Kerr said about Steph Curry, who left Game 1 with a left hamstring strain. The Warriors managed to win, but are preparing for Curry to miss Game 2.
Draymond Green said the Warriors will turn to Jimmy Butler if Curry has to miss time.
"We know what Jimmy's capable of," Green said. "Jimmy's capable of carrying a team. He carried a team to the Finals twice. So we won't panic.”
Called out: Timberwolves coach Chris Finch challenged Anthony Edwards after Minnesota dropped Game 1 against the Warriors.
“You're the leader of the team. You've got to come out and set the tone. If your shot is not going, you still have to carry the energy.”
Edwards had just one point at halftime and missed his first 10 shots in a game Minnesota trailed by as many as 23.