By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Denver Nuggets defeated by the Los Angeles Clippers became locked into a best-of-seven series opposite to the sixth-seeded Utah Jazz. Following Wednesday’s game in the NBA bubble set up in Orlando, Nikola Jokic discussed the opponent in the first round of the 2020 playoffs.
“It’s a really good matchup. It’s always kind of tough between us and them. It’s going to be a really interesting series,” he mentioned, “We have issues with just about everything. It will come down to how we will manage to hide them.”
Recent hiccups include a lack of defensive effort. The Clippers scored 40 points in the third quarter for a total of 74 in the second half to clinch the second seed in the West.
“We showed both our sides, that we can defend and that we can’t. I am concerned but not very concerned,” commented Jokic, “I think defense is the biggest part of basketball. If you can’t defend it’s always going to be a long long night.”
The Serbian big went for 17 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds in losing effort. He is up to 20.1 points, 9.1 assists, and 6.7 rebounds per contest since the resumption of the 2019-20 season.
The final seeding game for the Nuggets brings on the Toronto Raptors but no playoffs implications for either side.
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