Nikola Jokic is one of if not the best players in the NBA today and the Suns will have their hands full with a lot of the different offensive coverages that the Nuggets throw their way.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!A big staple of the Nuggets’ offense is the pick-and-roll that they run with Jokic on the top of the key with players such as Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Jamal Murray.
One of the things the Suns do as well is the pick-and-roll action with Chris Paul and Devin Booker. They tend to keep Kevin Durant away from the play to hide him in the corner and force the defense to either drop in coverage which allows for a mid-range shot, stay with Durant on the corner which allows for a height mismatch with Deandre Ayton or Bismack Biyombo or allow help defense which gives Kevin Durant a wide-open three-point opportunity.
This kind of offense makes things stressful for the Nuggets on defense and Jokic talked about it at length today during practice as he chalked it up as something you simply just “hope” and “pray” for.
How do the Nuggets plan to stop the Suns in pick-and-roll?
Nikola Jokic joked: “Pray.”
Jokic said they’ll try different things and complimented Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, who he called “probably the best scorer in the NBA.” pic.twitter.com/jMU6zavQuA
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) April 28, 2023
The pick-and-roll staple has been great for the Suns for the past few years especially with them being a mid-range shooting team. Factor in an efficient all-time scorer in Kevin Durant and it makes life a lot more challenging for the Nuggets.
It should be a good back-and-forth offensive series between these two teams and it will most likely take 6 or 7 games before we see who gets the job done.
