One could make a case for Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic being the toughest defensive matchup in the entire NBA. On Monday night, the Milwaukee Bucks were faced with this tall task. The man they called to the plate for this gargantuan assignment was none other than Brook Lopez.
Last season’s Defensive Player of the Year runner-up knew that his team needed him to step up big time against Jokic and the Nuggets, and so that’s exactly what Lopez did on Monday night.
In the end, Milwaukee prevailed, 112-95.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez Sounds Off on Nikola Jokic Mathcup
The Nuggets struggled to find their stroke in this one, which required Jokic to take on the role of being the team’s primary scorer. While the Serbian is one of the best playmakers in the game today, he still remains a very dangerous scoring threat at any given time — a fact that Lopez is well aware of:
“I mean, he’s obviously completely capable of that,” Lopez said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “The part where we’ve been great is, you know, it’s not one person’s job. We’ve been great at having all five on a string, having each other’s back, helper helping the helper helping the helper and scrambling, just really doing a great job at that.”
As always, Lopez was quick to play down his heroics against Jokic. The Bucks big man deflected the praise to his teammates, commending the squad’s collective effort in doing whatever they can to slow down Denver’s two-time MVP.
Communication is Key
Lopez did get a lot of help from his teammates on Monday night. The Bucks came in with a definitive game plan against Jokic, and they executed it excellently.
“It is (varied),” the Bucks’ center said of his help. “The most important thing obviously is doing stuff in our system. Hopefully, mostly we’re doing stuff in our system, but if we go rogue or if we see something regardless – either way – as long as we’re being vocal and letting everyone know so we can move as one.”
As Lopez said, communication is key on the defensive end, especially against a player like Jokic and a team like the Nuggets. The Bucks remain a work in progress on the defensive end and they will need to be more vocal on this side of the ball if they want to bring back that elite level of defense we saw from them in years past.
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