Given that he was the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, it was no small accomplishment that when Denver forward/center Nikola Jokic made his debut last season, he was chosen for the All-Rookie first team. Jokic's encore campaign to a stellar rookie year begins Wednesday with an unenviable task, with him matched up against three-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis, who is tipping off his fifth NBA season.
Although Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said in pregame that Jokic will be assigned to Davis, the effort to try to slow down New Orleans' best player will be a team objective.
“Nikola will start on him, but anytime you guard a great player, it's not one person,” Malone said roughly 90 minutes before tip-off in the Smoothie King Center. “So if Anthony Davis scores 25, it's not on Nikola Jokic; it's on the Denver Nuggets. So we have to give (Jokic) help, and when you play a great player, you have to give him different looks, try to keep him off balance. (Davis is) versatile – that's what makes him special. He can bring up the ball coast-to-coast, shoot the three, score in the post and he's a hell of a pick-and-roll player as well. It will require a team effort to try to contain him tonight.”
Other notes from pregame:
One of the NBA's most interesting interviewees among head coaches, Malone was asked how much he factors in the 2015-16 season in terms of scouting and preparing for the Pelicans. “You throw most of it out,” the second-year Denver sideline boss responded. “It's a different team. Obviously my heart goes out to Jrue Holiday and his family, (and) they've had so many injuries, that you'd like to see them gets things right.” Malone was a New Orleans assistant coach for one season in 2010-11 and said he and his family thoroughly enjoyed their time in the Crescent City.
“There are good people in this organization,” Malone said. “But what happened last year is not in our thought process. It's more about what (the Pelicans) did in the preseason and who they are this year, and getting ready to play this team tonight.”
