Nuggets coach Michael Malone confident his team can repel any scheme the Lakers try to contain Nikola Jokic

“Now, we’ve both shown our hands,” coach Michael Malone said after analyzing Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers this Wednesday.

Even though rival coach Darvin Ham implemented an adjustment to defend Nikola Jokic in the first match of the series, the Denver team has seen this strategy countless times in the past, and they were still able to lead the squad to a 132-126 victory in Colorado.

Malone knows that they should expect this scheme to retain their star big man again this Thursday in Game 2 (8:30pm ET).

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“We saw it before,” said Nikola Jokic, who was still able to land a monster stat line with 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists. “We saw it [in the first round] against Minnesota. We saw it even during the season. I had a couple of turnovers. I missed a shot. It doesn’t surprise us. But I think we’re going to figure it out because we did the last [time].”

Malone concurred with his star players, as he’s seen many similar situations like Tuesday’s in the past, and he gave an example on how they handled it against the Warriors last year.

“We’ve seen that quite a bit before,” he explained. “Last year with [Golden State’s] Draymond [Green], I think he was a free safety a lot in that first round series, just kind of [roaming] off Aaron [Gordon] and making that paint look really crowded. But we’ve seen that quite a bit this year. So, we can be a lot better in countering that.”

If Los Angeles try to restrict Denver into playing in half court, Jokic remains their best offensive asset as he’s been able to shoot from three-point range with relative ease. Coming off his sixth triple-double just in this postseason, he’s now tied with both Magic Johnson and Draymond Green as the second-most in league history.

“It takes bigs away from the basket when he’s shooting the ball that well on the perimeter,” the Nuggets trainer detailed. “Most teams, they keep their big down the floor in pick and rolls. Now, if you have a big that’s capable of picking and popping and knocking down the 3 as efficiently as he is, that forces guys to have to get out there. Then, that opens up things behind it. When Nikola’s knocking down the 3, that forces teams to really close out hard to him.

“He’s one of the best guys in the NBA, not just big guys, but best players in terms of attacking closeouts. Very effective shot fake,” he assured.

Malone is expecting Lakers to assign Rui Hachimura to guard their Serbian star

If Denver’s coaches predictions are correct, and Ham does assign Rui Hachimura to defend Jokic early in Game 2, the star center has the opportunity to contribute to his squad by staying out of the perimeter and shooting over his shortest opponents.

Check out how the Serbian big man applied this strategy in the last minutes of Game 1 in Colorado:

“Much is being made of them putting Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic like we’ve never seen that before,” Malone anticipated. “But that’s what you love about getting that Game 1 under your belt. You have a much better feel now of what to expect. Obviously, we’re gonna make adjustments going into Game 2, and I’m sure they will.

“Now it’s just a constant tinkering of doing whatever you think is gonna give yourself the best chance to win this game, and more importantly win this series.”

His teammate Michael Porter Jr., also agrees there’s little surprises to the Lakers strategy. “Us as a team, we’ve seen everything there is to see with how teams will try to guard Nikola,” he said after scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds and two blocks on Tuesday.