Ivica Zubac spent two decades in basketball, from the hills of Zagreb, Croatia, to the beaches of Los Angeles, and he still played once in the life of a giant as a guard.
Never ever been the one in defense, getting screened. Never been the man on the point-of-attack. Never ever the one who hunted around peanuts.
Until now, against Nikola Jokic and the rotating carousel of this Nuggets circus around a 7-footer as lead ball handler.
“That’s what happens when you play against him,” said Zubac about Jokic after game 2. “You have to be ready for everything. You have to find out.”
Five games in this Nuggets-Clippers series, and the clippers have discovered Jokic like some teams in the postseason memory. After a quiet 4-of-13 night in Game 5, Jokic is on average his least points per match (25.4) in a series since the Phoenix Suns’ Sweep of the Nuggets in 2020-21. Los Angeles coach Ty Lue confirmed that a switch to a Blitz-heavy coverage on Tuesday evening helped to slow Jokic, making the intoxicating Zubac more consistent to Jokic and a flurry of Clippers defenders.
However, the fact remains that the nuggets still won game 5 with 16 points.
“Holding Joker on 13 points and losing the game,” Lue smiled vague, postgame, “is tough.”
“But that’s how he hits you,” the coach of the clippers continued. “If you worry too much, other guys can beat you.”
This complicated tango has dedicated the series, Jokic and Zubac and a whole series of other Blue-Red Clippers Jerseys, which are locked up in this and take Around the triple MVP. And for five games, apart from a debilitating 36-point effort in Game 4, Jokic gave more than he has taken. Zubac’s height and physicality In their one-on-one matchup, Jokic was bothered in game 1. A swarm of Los Angeles-Mosquito put away seven turnover in game 2. And a wall waited to ward off the paint in game 5.
But Jamal Murray took over on Tuesday evening and took abundance. Russell Westbrook also, in a 21-point attempt, did the man who are completely satisfied with the clippers to lick his fingers on the circumference that now shoots 39% deep in the series. Jokic hit 12 assists against two turnover, aimed traffic and Dever buried Los Angeles.
“It’s great,” said Jokic Postgame when he was asked about his skinny score output, still resulting in a victory.
“It wasn’t my night, and I have nothing – that’s fine,” he went on. “Like, I’m going to try to do what I can try to do what I have to do to win a game. And I think everyone should accept that. Like, if it’s not your night, do what you have to do to win the game.”
In practice, the clippers won the Battle of Jokic on Tuesday evening. They switched twice about coverings, as Zubac Postgame said. They forced Jokic in heavy shots, and his least made field goals in a play-off game since a quarterfinals of the Western conference 2018-19 against the San Antonio Spurs.
But Jokic and the Nuggets won the war.
“He is always looking for his teammates, he will always find open guys,” said Zubac Postgame. “He gets a lot of attention away from the teammates … and he gives a lot of room to operate for other boys.”
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