Nuggets' Michael Malone says Lakers' Jokic strategy nothing new - ESPN

DENVER — As the Nuggets watched film of their Game 1 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, they saw something they have seen before.

If the Lakers believe they might have found a defensive wrinkle by putting Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic like they did in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the Nuggets say they know exactly how to counter the tactic, having seen it as recently as the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

«Much [is being] made of them putting Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic,» Denver head coach Michael Malone said after the team's film session Wednesday. «Like we have never seen that before.»

The Nuggets have a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven Western Conference finals after Jokic had his third consecutive postseason triple-double with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists to go with two blocks. Jokic hit 12 of his first 15 shots and had 31 points, 19 rebounds and 12 assists by the end of the third quarter.

But after the Lakers put the 6-foot-8 Hachimura on the 6-foot-11 Jokic, allowing Anthony Davis to roam the paint, Jokic was limited in the fourth quarter to three points on 0-of-2 shooting with two rebounds and two assists while committing two turnovers.

That, along with scoring 72 second-half points, allowed the Lakers to cut a 21-point deficit to three multiple times late in the fourth. So even though the Nuggets made winning plays down the stretch to take Game 1, there was a feeling that the Lakers came out of the game with momentum and perhaps an effective defensive strategy on Jokic.

«There's this kind of discussion being based [that] even though the Lakers lost, they're walking out of here, they think they've got something,» Malone said. «I'll bet you every red penny I have that Darvin Ham would rather