NBA player Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets is one of the league’s toughest covers. It’s just not possible to fully slow him down. He finds an open shooter across the court when they load up on him. If you leave him alone, he will gorge himself in the mail. Nevertheless, Jokic had to work extra hard for his baskets on Tuesday night against the reigning Finals MVP, as the rookie for the San Antonio Spurs blocked four of the nine shots he had that evening.
Yes, the Nuggets won 110-105, and Jokic still finished the game with 42 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists. Regardless of defensive coverage, the league’s most valuable player does just that. Wembanyama’s defensive impact, however, impressed the Joker so much that he teased the Spurs youngster that if he was turned down one more time, he would come up with a retaliatory move — only to have him repeatedly swatted.
It was humorous. According to Ball Is Life on Twitter (X), Jokic remarked, “I told him if you block one more shot I’m going to (do) something but he blocked like four after that so I didn’t do anything about it.” The statement caused a lot of laughing among the reporters in attendance for his postgame press conference.
Nikola Jokic rarely feels the need to go for a dunk; instead, it’s his finesse, which includes his incredible footwork and deft touch from all angles, that makes him so difficult to stop in the first place. However, Victor Wembanyama is a different beast, and in order to make that decisive first-quarter dunk, the Nuggets star had to overcome gravity.
Unfortunately, that only seemed to spur Wembanyama to play excellent defense, causing Jokic a lot of problems despite the Nuggets star’s performance appearing to indicate otherwise in the box score.
Even though Victor Wembanyama only turned 20 in January, his talent is beyond comprehension. In spite of the Spurs’ defeat to the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic proved that he belongs against the best of the best at the position. Not many centers can keep up with Jokic.
Of course, those who follow box scores will see that Jokic outperformed Wembanyama and that he missed 20 of his 29 field goal tries during the game. But shouldn’t that be anticipated? The main player for the Nuggets is the best in the business at center guard. He is an attacking dynamo that can outplay any opponent and will always win. However, the rookie for the Spurs caused Jokic to perspire, and both guys enjoyed the rivalry they offered.
The league had better take note because Victor Wembanyama is just going to become better from here on out.
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