The Spurs secured a major win on Friday. They not only beat the Nuggets, a title contender, but also clinched a spot in the knockout stage of the Emirates NBA Cup by winning the “group of death.” It was a major victory that had several heroes, with Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie having some of the best nights of their careers.
While offense was the main reason for their triumph — it was a 139-136 win after all — San Antonio did something not many teams have accomplished in the past few seasons: force Nikola Jokic into a subpar game for his standards.
It might seem silly to make that claim, since the Joker finished with an ultra-efficient 21 points to go with nine boards and 10 assists, but he got there by playing the way the Spurs wanted him to, and at no point was he the dominant force he normally is. Let’s take a look at how San Antonio managed that.
The plan: turn Jokic into a passer and not a scorer
The game plan was simple. It’s impossible to neutralize Jokic, so you have to pick your poison. He’s an elite scorer and an elite playmaker for others, and at most, you can try to limit him on one of those two areas. Considering he averaged 43.5 points in two matchups against the Spurs last season, it made sense for Mitch Johnson to want to focus on taking the scoring aspect of his game away.
To do so, the Spurs focused a lot of defensive attention on Jokic, even if it meant letting Jamal Murray score and their role players get open looks. San Antonio threw some different looks Jokic’s way early, but settled on one strategy for most of the game.
The Spurs put a smaller player on him to front him or just be physical with him to make the catch difficult. Then immediately sent a second defender when he made a move and doubled or had the center, which typically guarded Spencer Jones or whoever was a weak shooter, flash to the paint while they zoned up on the weak side on pick and rolls.
Whenever Joker faced just one defender, he scored. But the Silver and Black were consistent in making sure he rarely had those opportunities by showing help in an extremely aggressive way, while packing the paint in others. As a result, Jokic attempted just 10 shots and took eight free throws, having an efficient scoring night but not dominating.
The gambits that paid off
The Spurs had a solid basic plan, but the reason it worked as well as it did is that three of their gambits paid off:
They trusted that Jokic’s innate selflessness would lead him to understand what the Spurs were trying to do, but to accept that he needed to make his damage as a playmaker instead of trying to force up shots. This is a man who has repeatedly said he prefers to dish out an assist than score because “assists make two people happy.” He also knows he’s the best passer alive, so he probably thought he could make things work. A more aggressive Jokic probably does more damage.
The Spurs relied on the belief that officials can’t call every foul. They were extremely physical with Jokic, with Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson essentially fouling him several times on most of the possessions they guarded him. Sochan got in foul trouble, but a baseline of allowed physicality was set. San Antonio also benefited from bad no-calls on other Nuggets late because of how aggressive and physical they were earlier. Jokic looked frustrated with the officials.
They likely knew that David Adelman, being a smart coach, would try to adjust, but that adjustment would be to fall for what can be called the Sochan Trap. Since the Nuggets knew the Spurs would bring two whenever Jokic was involved, they used Spencer Jones, who was guarded by the center, as a screener for Murray. It’s what San Antonio used to do with Sochan at times when opponents put smaller guys on Victor Wembanyama. The problem is, while the forward normally has a good game, the center is relegated to an off-ball role. With a player like Jokic, that’s not what you want. He had zero field goal attempts in the third quarter, while Jones had six.
The bad news: the plan might not be replicable
Despite the Spurs having a strong and clear game plan and a few things that they couldn’t control going their way, it was just a three-point win in the end. The Nuggets could have easily prevailed if some of the open looks they had had gone in. They were also missing two starters, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, who cannot be left open as often as players like Spencer Jones, Naji Marshall, and Peyton Watson, and who understand how to play off Jokic.
The good news is the Spurs won this game, which lets them advance in the Emirates NBA Cup and will not face Jokic and Denver again until March. Mitch Johnson will have time to think of adjustments and hopefully, San Antonio will be at full strength by then, ready to get another victory over the best player in the world.