The story of this era of Denver Nuggets basketball is the story of Nikola Jokić bailing out underwhelming rosters.
Their net rating drops by a million points whenever Jokić goes to the bench. They lose playoff games and series when his supporting cast can’t lift him up. The city of Denver holds its breath every time he gets subbed out of the game. Any possession that is not directly centered around him has the potential to go haywire. They’ve become so precarious that, in Saturday’s Game 4 win over the Clippers, head coach David Adelman kept him on the floor for the entire second half without a break.
This, in turn, has become the story of Denver’s first-round series against the Clippers. Can the Nuggets survive his brief breaks, and can the Clippers come up with funky defenses to confuse him long enough for them to seize control of otherwise lost games? That’s almost what happened on Saturday. The Nuggets led by 22 in the fourth quarter. The Clippers used a gimmicky 1-1-3 zone to stifle him long enough to go on a 32-9 run to nearly steal that game. It took an Aaron Gordon miracle to save it.
WATCH: Aaron Gordon dunks home incredible last-second buzzer-beater to stun Clippers in Game 4 win
Jack Maloney
Lo and behold, Tuesday’s Game 5 nearly played out very similarly. Just as they did on Saturday, the Nuggets built a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter. Once again, the Clippers trimmed it. With 4:01 remaining, the lead was down to nine. So, how did the Clippers execute this near-comeback? With yet another unusual defensive ploy. They put 6-foot-5 guard James Harden on Jokić.
If this confuses you, well, that’s understandable. Aside from standing half a foot shorter than Jokić, Harden’s defensive reputation has typically been as a laughing stock. The truth is more complicated. While he has his share of low-effort…
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