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?
Joking was cooking Embiid in the first half of that 47 point game. The 76ers then switched PJ Tucker on Jokic in the second half and slowed him down
It was more so to allow Embiid to stay near the rim rather than get pull away and Jokic hit a cutter for an easy 2 since no one else in the team can protect the rim
That’s because it’s always a much better decision to not have your best rim protector on jokic. It just takes them away from being able to guard anyone else. If they’re moved off they can constantly help with defending him, but can also influence the rest of the defence. It’s why the lakers switched AD and Rui as well