Nikola Jokic tormented the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, powering the Denver Nuggets to a 127-102 win at Crypto.com Arena. Jokic had 34 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and a block in that blowout win and a video of him cooking the Lakers has gone viral.
Watch this video of Nikola Jokić absolutely cooking tf out of the Lakers 😮💨🐐
pic.twitter.com/6yh7ao00hE
— Tatiana (@Tatianaclinares) November 24, 2024
This was a masterclass. What is so remarkable is all the different ways in which he attacked the Lakers. The 29-year-old scored effectively both inside and outside, and his playmaking was on point as well.
Since the start of 2023, the Lakers have come up against Jokic quite a few times but they still haven’t found a way to slow him down. He helped the Nuggets sweep them in the Western Conference Finals in 2023 and then beat them in five games in the first round in 2024.
Jokic is now 13-1 in his last 14 games (regular season and playoffs) against the Lakers, which is simply astonishing. The three-time MVP has averaged 27.7 points, 14.2 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in those games. He has been very efficient too, shooting 56.4% from the field and 40.7% from beyond the arc.
What makes those numbers Jokic has put up all the more impressive is that they came against Anthony Davis, one of the premier defenders in the NBA. Davis made the All-Defensive First Team last season and will probably make it this time too, but he just isn’t able to slow down the Serbian.
To be fair to Davis, that speaks more to Jokic’s greatness than any deficiency in him. I think the Nuggets superstar is the best player in the NBA and he is the early MVP frontrunner once again.
Anthony Davis Didn’t Want To Challenge Nikola Jokic At The Rim
While Jokic has dominated against Davis, the Lakers’ big man has put up big numbers in their previous meetings too. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, though, as he had just 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks against the Nuggets. The nine-time All-Star went just 6-19 from the field in the contest and a big reason for that was his reluctance to challenge Jokic at the rim.
Anthony Davis had no interest in challenging Nikola Jokic at the rim. pic.twitter.com/ZBpIIlQ2zD
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) November 25, 2024
Davis has had so much success this season attacking the basket but settled for jumpers way too often against Jokic. The Nuggets star isn’t as bad of a defender as some consider him to be, but he is no elite rim protector and I thought Davis let him off the hook by taking so many mid-range shots. If he keeps doing this in future meetings too, we can already pencil those as losses for the Lakers.
As for when their next meeting will be, it’s quite some time away, The Nuggets will be welcoming the Lakers to Ball Arena on Feb. 22, 2025, and the teams will face off against each other two more times this season after that as well. I certainly won’t be betting on the Lakers to win any of those games.
With this win over the Lakers, the Nuggets improved to 9-6 on the season. They are currently sixth in the West and will face the New York Knicks next at Ball Arena on Monday at 9 PM ET.
The Lakers, meanwhile, dropped to 10-6 on the season with this defeat and are fourth in the West. They have now lost their last two games and take on the Phoenix Suns next in an NBA Cup game at Footprint Center on Tuesday at 10 PM ET.
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