Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and adjusting on the fly

1. The Clippers didn’t let Ivica Zubac guard Nikola Jokic for more than a few possessions on Friday night and it’s easy to see why. Zubac started out guarding Aaron Gordon but was forced to cover Jokic for a few possessions to end the first half. It did not go well.

That matchup will be a problem for the Clippers should the Nuggets meet up with them in a playoff series. Zubac is a decent big but he is another in a growing list of centers who have been solved by the Murray-Jokic two-man game.

2. Later in the game, the Clippers tried to replace Zubac with Moses Brown and had him guard Aaron Gordon. The Nuggets seamlessly adjusted by swapping Jokic and Gordon on offense and running a few of their staple plays.

3. The most encouraging takeaway I had from the game was how quickly Denver seemed to adjust to LA’s coverages. In the clip below, the Nuggets ran HORNS DIVE, a very simple staple in the Nuggets playbook. But the impressive part was how easily Murray read the Clippers’ defensive tendencies, knowing that by rejecting the Jokic screen, John Wall would be looking to switch with Reggie Jackson on Murray’s “drive.” I out drive in quotations because Murray knew to only fake the drive in order to lure them into a switch while he could get to his favorite spot, the left elbow, for an easy jumper.

4. Another example of Denver adjusting on the fly. The Clippers show zone to start the possession so Jokic gets the team into a zone offense. But the Clippers then wind up matched up with Zubac on Jokic so, once again, Murray and Jokic go right into the two-man game, knowing that Zubac will drop and give Murray an easy jumper from his favorite spot.

5. Just look at how easily Jokic picks apart the zone.

6. Vlatko Cancar is a great connector thanks to his quick reads and unselfish decision making.

7. Loved this flare screen in transition from Gordon.

8. There are a handful of bigs in today’s NBA that can make basic reads like the one below. But only Jokic can gently loft the ball so that Murray could catch it in stride for the easy layup.