How the Lakers Finally Solved Jokic and the Nuggets

Daniel Waddleton

Feb 23, 2025

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HEADING INTO SATURDAY night’s ABC primetime showdown, it had been 799 days since the Lakers last defeated the Nuggets in the regular season. During that span, they also faced Denver in two playoff series, losing a staggering eight of nine games. Their lone victory came when they were already down 3-0 in last year’s Western Conference first-round series, a win that ultimately carried little weight.

No player has tormented the Lakers more in recent memory than three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. In their last two postseason meetings, he averaged:

• 27.8 PPG, 14.5 RPG, 11.8 APG on 50/47/78 shooting in 2023 (4 Games)

• 28.2 PPG, 16.2 RPG, 9.8 APG on 59/33/93 shooting in 2024 (5 Games)

And those numbers came with Anthony Davis on the floor, one of the best defensive centers of the past decade. This time, with Davis out of the picture, the Lakers’ best option at center was Jaxson Hayes -- like bringing a stepstool to climb Everest.

Even with Luka Doncic now in the fold -- a move that sent Lakers fans into a frenzy -- their Denver problem felt bigger than ever. Losing Davis in the process only made the challenge seem more insurmountable.

Instead, the Lakers delivered their best defensive performance against Jokic since his MVP rise, cruising to a 123-100 victory.

Nikola Jokic’s in this game:

• 12 points – second-fewest this season

• 7 field goal attempts – tied for his season low

• 2 made field goals – his lowest of the season

• 6 turnovers – tied for his second-most this season

J.J. Redick refused to let Jokic torment this team yet again. He had only been present for one of the last 13 losses, but he was determined to find, not a perfect solution, but at least a patch big enough to slow the Serbian-sized leak -- even if it meant springing smaller, more manageable ones elsewhere

In this film breakdown, we’ll examine how the Lakers neutralized Jokic, how Luka Doncic’s arrival evens the score offensively, and what it all means moving forward.

LET'S START ON the defensive end, where the Lakers shocked a lot of people. They opened with a familiar look against Nikola Jokic -- stocky forward Rui Hachimura as the primary defender and Jaxson Hayes roaming off Aaron Gordon as a weak-side helper.

This time though, there were key differences that we would see develop throughout the game.

Whoever guarded Jokic was consistently picking him up basically 94 feet off the ball, working to impede his progress towards the basket and prevent him from catching the ball anywhere near the basket. When he did establish position, the Lakers were relentless fronting the post, with backside help always lurking to deny over the top entry passes.

Just watch this clip of Jarred Vanderbilt, a 40-second masterclass in hounding Jokic off the ball.

The Lakers may lack center depth, but they aren’t small by any means. Even in their “small-ball” lineups without a traditional center, they’re loaded with bulky, athletic 6'6-6’9 wings who can play physical defense. This size allows them to switch everything, a key part of their strategy against Jokic.

Los Angeles executed sharp switching whenever Jokic ran two-man actions with perimeter players. When he set a screen or initiated a dribble handoff, the Lakers’ on-ball defender immediately latched onto him as he rolled, fronting and denying the catch, while backside help stayed on a string to prevent any pass over the top.

This possession early in the game perfectly illustrates everything we’ve discussed so far. Hachimura forces the catch outside the paint. The two-man action unfolds, and Austin Reaves stays attached on the switch, fronting Jokic to deny an easy entry pass. Meanwhile, LeBron James roams on the backside, cutting off any over the top pass.

Then, as soon as Gordon catches the ball, Reaves and LeBron switch on a string, where LeBron immediately fronts the post. The possession ends with a Doncic block. Not a very Denver Nuggets looking offensive possession.

Pretty sweet having Dorian Finney-Smith now instead of D’Angelo Russell when you're playing Denver. In this clip, the Lakers execute the same switch, and for a moment, it looks like Jokic has Finney-Smith sealed. But don’t be fooled, his long arms and elite quickness for his size allow him to deflect the pass and come up with the steal, sparking easy offense.

The Lakers took their "deny Jokic the ball" strategy very seriously. On this play, Hachimura once again makes it difficult for Jokic to even walk down the court. Denver tries to set a cross-screen to free him up for a post-up, but Reaves disrupts the action, getting in Jokic’s way just long enough for Hachimura to recover and deny the entry pass.

The ball gets swung the other way, and if you watch closely, at one point the Lakers are literally triple-teaming Jokic off the ball. The possession completely stalls, and Denver gets nothing.

Doncic isn’t known for his defense, but his size allows him to be a useful piece in this scheme. In this next clip, he follows the same switching blueprint, using his big frame to deny Jokic an entry pass. Hachimura rotates over from the weak side as help, and the Lakers live with the result of a Christian Braun three.

Conceding these threes was a recurring theme throughout the game. Braun may shoot 36% from deep, but he takes just a little over two attempts per game. In a playoff-type setting -- which this game certainly felt like for the Lakers -- teams will try to dictate where shots come from and force lower-volume shooters to prove they can hit at that clip on high volume.

If Denver goes down in the postseason, their three-point shooting might be what breaks the camel’s back. Outside of Murray and Michael Porter Jr., they don’t play many elite shooters alongside Jokic. The Lakers seem very interested in testing whether Gordon, Braun, and Russell Westbrook can collectively hit 10-12 threes per game. Anytime Jokic got the ball in a scoring position, the Lakers aggressively helped as soon as he made his first move, attempting to funnel the ball to Denver’s questionable shooters.

You see it right away on one of the first possessions of the game. Jokic is about to get the catch on Hachimura, and Hayes is sitting deep in the paint, completely ignoring Gordon. This time, Denver makes them pay.

Shortly after, another example unfolds. Jokic again establishes good position, but as he spins, Reaves steps in, perfectly positioned to draw a charge, while LeBron rotates weak-side to contest Porter Jr. The ball kicks to the corner, Gordon misses the three.

If Porter had been in the corner and Gordon in the dunker’s spot, maybe that turns into a lob instead. But that’s the difference now, the Lakers are forcing Denver to have their alignment perfect, which is a far cry from how this matchup looked in the past.

Hayes’ role on defense in this game was simply to be a roamer, and ignore his assignment Gordon if he's outside the three point line. Here, Porter cuts down the lane off a Gordon screen, and Hayes acts as if he doesn’t even exist. Denver can't capitalize.

The Nuggets need to find ways to get Hayes matched up on Jokic so he can't roam freely, mucking up the paint. Here, Hachimura has almost no chance of contesting Gordon on a ridiculously accurate Jokic pass.

When Hayes is off the floor, the Lakers lack true rim protection. A key for Denver in a potential playoff series will be finding ways to generate more rim pressure when the Lakers go smaller. That wasn’t easy in this game, given that Denver lacks on-ball downhill juice on this roster, primarily relying on cutters playing off Jokic to apply rim pressure.

The Nuggets do a better job here in the second half during a similar situation. No Hayes on the floor, the Lakers send a double at Jokic in the post. You'll see Zeke Nnaji seals Finney-Smith on the opposite block while Westbrook flashes to the middle. Jokic finds him for an easy bucket.

The final -- maybe most important -- defensive takeaway from this game? LeBron James.

I’ve talked about how if the Lakers want to win a title with this group, LeBron needs to let Doncic take the majority of creation burden offensively and use that saved energy to become a Swiss Army knife on both ends. This game was a proof of concept.

LeBron was outstanding defensively. The Lakers had him start possessions guarding Murray, who didn’t make a single shot inside the arc all game. On two-man actions, LeBron seamlessly switches onto Jokic, because even at 40 years old, he’s still as physically imposing as any forward in the league.

This possession encapsulates his night. LeBron is all over Jokic off the ball, then switches onto Murray. Even when Murray gets a step, LeBron’s size and lateral quickness funnel him into help defense. And as we’ve discussed, the Lakers are fine living with a Gordon three.

Even when the Lakers made defensive mistakes tonight -- like this missed gamble on a steal -- LeBron’s activity level on defense allowed him to clean things up and cover for those errors.

Needless to say, this was a really encouraging defensive performance for the Lakers. They’ve been stacking strong defensive efforts for about a month now, and this game was the icing on the cake against a team that has given them hell in the past.

IN PAST MATCHUPS, it always felt like the Lakers were the ones scrambling, throwing everything at Denver’s offense without ever finding the right solution. Meanwhile, the Nuggets exerted less energy defensively yet consistently got better results on that end.

That was largely because Denver had an unsolvable problem on their side -- a player who dictated everything and forced the Lakers into.

The difference this time? Now, the Lakers have an unsolvable problem of their own.

Even if Denver adjusts and generates more efficient offense in future matchups, Doncic gives the Lakers a blueprint where they might only need to do just enough defensively, because they’re going to score so damn much.

Doncic finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and was a +20 on the night. The Nuggets had no answer for the Lakers' offense when he was on the floor. Against anybody Luka’s presence makes life difficult, but against Denver, it’s a nightmare. The team has to rely on hard-hedging Jokic to prevent him in drop or a switch against Doncic, and Luka was picking it apart.

On one of his first ball screens of the game, Denver doubles off the screen, trying to force the ball out of his hands. Luka goes into a jump pass, holding Braun in place with his eyes before threading a pass to Hayes rolling down the lane.

Porter Jr. could have sunk down to tag the roller, but Luka is more than capable of reading that and skipping it to the corner. Most teams would rely on the roller to make that secondary read, giving the defense a chance to react. Doncic allows the Lakers to skip that step entirely.

Even when Denver executes well defensively, Luka forces rotations that put you in tough spots against this Lakers offense. Here, the Nuggets X-out nicely on the backside, but with another elite creator like Reaves on the floor, he attacks the closeout, keeping the offense in rhythm and leading to another great shot -- all starting with Doncic drawing two defenders.

Sometimes Doncic doesn't even have to make a good read, his mere presence alone warps the defense.

In this next clip, Denver immediately sends two at Luka as soon as Jokic gets switched onto him in isolation. Hachimura flashes to the middle, a perfect spot for him since he has the size to finish and the vision to pass. This time, it’s Hachimura to Reaves for the triple, all created by Doncic's gravity.

You'll notice in all these clips that the Lakers are generating great shots even with LeBron as merely a play finisher, or not on the floor at all.

With the previous version of this team, LeBron carried such a massive creation burden that it not only became less efficient the more he had to burn energy, but it also led to defensive lapses on the other end as he tried to conserve energy.

Now? LeBron is free to be a Swiss Army knife.

You see it in LeBron’s defensive activity, like we talked about earlier, as engaged as he’s been in years. You see it in his offensive role, where he’s finishing plays with force, crashing the offensive glass, and running hard in transition when Doncic has the ball.

The Nuggets rank 26th in transition defense, they are vulnerable off misses. LeBron isn’t going to full-sprint down the court for just anyone, but the second he sees Doncic grab the rebound, you know that freight train is rolling. Even at 40 he will run past anybody and Doncic is capable of making any pass on a basketball court.

Cross-matches are an opposing team’s worst nightmare against a Luka-led team because he can do things like this in transition. The Mavericks really traded this guy?!

The Lakers are never going to go a stretch without generating good offense against anybody. Even when Doncic isn’t on the floor, the defense remains under constant stress because Reaves and LeBron are still out there -- both high-level creators capable of keeping the offense humming.

They’re both going to force constant defensive rotations, just as Luka does. Here, LeBron runs a simple pick-and-pop with Hachimura. Jordan Goodwin makes a smart cut to occupy the weak-side help while in rotation. As a result, Finney-Smith is left wide open in the corner for a three. He might have missed, but considering he shoots 40% on corner threes, the Lakers will take that look every time.

Reaves might not be Doncic or LeBron, but any screening action involving him still forces Jokic to defend in space. There’s no easy option where he can just sit in drop coverage. If he doesn’t step up to the level against any of these three playmakers, they’re going to pay for it.

Between Doncic, LeBron, and Reaves, the Lakers will always have fresh, dynamic creators on the floor. They can all play off each other, attack mismatches, and finish advantages created by one another. Add in Hachimura and the other play finishers on this team, and this offense becomes incredibly difficult to stop for anybody.

Like we said earlier, when it comes to offense Denver will certainly adjust, and the Lakers will need to find more answers as this matchup evolves. But one thing is clear -- the Nuggets have a serious defensive problem now in this matchup.