Nikola Jokic admitted Game 5 was ‘not my night.’ Nuggets still blew out Clippers
Ivica Zubac has spent two decades in basketball from the hills of Zagreb Croatia to the beaches of Los Angeles and still never once in a giant s life has he played as a guard Never once been the one on defense getting screened Never once been the man at the point-of-attack Never once been the one chasing around pindowns Until now against Nikola Jokic and the revolving carousel of this Nuggets circus around a -footer as a lead ballhandler That s what happens when you play against him Zubac commented of Jokic after Match You gotta be ready for everything You gotta figure it out Five games into this Nuggets-Clippers series and the Clippers have figured Jokic out like meager teams in postseason memory After a quiet -of- night in Contest Jokic is averaging his fewest points per meeting in a series since the Phoenix Suns sweep of the Nuggets in - Los Angeles coach Ty Lue affirmed that a switch to a blitz-heavy coverage Tuesday night helped slow Jokic enabling the heady Zubac to stay more consistently attached to Jokic and a flurry of Clippers defenders to push him out from the post The fact remains however that the Nuggets still won Championship by points Holding Joker to points and losing the competition Lue smiled faintly postgame is tough But that s how he beats you the Clippers coach continued If you worry about him too much other guys can beat you This complicated tango has defined the series Jokic and Zubac and a slew of other blue-and-red Clippers jerseys locked into this give-and-take around the three-time MVP And for five games aside from a grueling -point effort in Tournament Jokic has given more than he s taken Zubac s length and physicality in their one-on-one matchup bothered Jokic in Competition A swarm of Los Angeles gnats poked seven turnovers away in Competition And a wall awaited to ward off the paint in Match But Jamal Murray took and took aplenty on Tuesday night Russell Westbrook did too in a -point effort the man the Clippers are wholly content to let lick his fingers on the perimeter now shooting from deep in the series Jokic flicked assists against two turnovers directed traffic and Denver buried Los Angeles It s great Jokic disclosed postgame when petitioned about his meager scoring output still resulting in a win Related Articles PHOTOS Denver Nuggets top LA Clippers - in Battle of first-round NBA playoff series Nuggets Battle three-pointers Ball Arena Christian Braun stymie Clippers James Harden Jamal Murray drops points to lead Nuggets to Competition win - series lead over Clippers Michael Porter Jr avoids suspension for Battle between Nuggets Clippers Christian Braun I ruined really cool pictures of Aaron Gordon s buzzer-beater dunk It was not my night and I don t have nothing that s fine he continued Like I m going to try to do whatever I can to try to do whatever I need to do to win a battle And I think everybody necessities to accept that Like if it s not your night do whatever you need to do to win the contest In practice the Clippers won the battle of Jokic Tuesday night They switched coverages twice as Zubac noted postgame They forced Jokic into tough shots and his fewest made field goals in a playoff encounter since a - Western Conference quarterfinal against the San Antonio Spurs But Jokic and the Nuggets won the war He s invariably gonna look for his teammates he s perpetually gonna find open guys Zubac announced postgame He takes away a lot of attention from the teammates and he definitely gives a lot of space to operate for other guys Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis
