Which player is actually ‘best’ at guarding Nikola Jokic

For whatever reason before the WCF in 2023, there was a conception that Anthony Davis does very well against Nikola Jokic however that narrative has completely flipped.

I’ve seen Nurkic, Ayton, Draymond and Gobert mentioned before but the facts (stats) seem untrue.

While there might not be a Jokic stopper, is there an actual player that defends Jokic well to the point of keeping him to or below his averages?

  • Alex_O7@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I think 1vs1 it is only Jokic mindset that could stop him, while 1v2 I think Towns and Gobert did a decent job and I totally see that Allen+Mobley could do damage too (but there are no statistical evidence)

    Then if you look at numbers last year the only team that make Jokic look bad was Chicago for some reason. 13ppg in with 55%FG and 60%TS in 2 games is the worst he had with any team (still a +11.5 tho). Another notable was Utah, with more relevance too. I think the length of the Jazz really bothered the Joker in RS vs them.

    • btmalon@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I had to scroll so far for anyone to acknowledge the Bulls. Vucic is not an amazing rim protector for slashing guards but he plays well against “softer” bigs. That and the Bulls elite guard D shuts down most of his passing options.