Nikola Jokic may not have expected the welcome he received from the Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Despite leading the scoring effort for his team and contributing as high as 32 points to the overall score, his play wasn’t enough to go up against the dynamic defensive roster of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, and Naz Reid. In the end, the Nuggets ended up losing 99-106. In the aftermath of the same, the 29-year-old Center was asked about the Timberwolves’ defensive trio, and what would be the best way for him to be impactful.

The question reportedly sent Jokic into a thinking phase for quite some time. In the end, the player could only come up with one solution to combat the problem: “To have a duplicate clone of myself”, he answered. The exhaustion on Nikola Jokic’s face while attempting to circumvent the Timberwolves defense reportedly became quite visible.

It even caught the attention of legend Charles Barkley. On his ‘NBA on TNT’ show, the latter proceeded to state “I don’t think you can play Joker against those two guys and Naz Reid for 45-40 minutes a night in a seven-game series because he exerts so much energy on those guys”. Given how the trio concentrated their efforts solely on the Serbian in the 2nd half, Barkley feels that something needs to be figured out if the Nuggets don’t wish to lose any more games.

Despite his offensive prowess, there were certainly moments when the Timberwolves defense seemed to be getting the better of the 29-year-old. During the fourth quarter, the Nuggets ran their iconic ‘3-man Elbow action’ by making use of Murray, Jokic, and Gordon. According to quite a few reports, the maneuver is considered to be unstoppable. However, Naz Reid, along with Rudy Gobert and Jaden McDaniels, effortlessly blocked it and prevented Jokic from making a shot. If that isn’t an example of good defense, then what is?

Anthony Edwards on Nikola Jokic: “Going against the best player in the world is fun”

Not everyone has the luxury of boasting such an early and memorable win against the two-time MVP recipient, who may end up getting his third MVP title soon. However, thanks to their recent performance, Anthony Edwards and his teammates can do just that. During the post-game presser, the Timberwolves star stated how he truly felt when going up against someone like Nikola Jokic.

“Going against the best player in the world is fun,” said Edwards. “Going up against the best team is fun”. Prior to the matchup, Edwards knew that they would be competing against a franchise that was “well-coached” and “disciplined”. A franchise that would not lose just by their own faults. Therefore, it satisfied him knowing that his “coaching staff did a great job of game planning” as well, preventing Jokic from claiming the first win of the series.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves may possess the advantage right now, but the Semifinals series has just begun. Furthermore, the Nuggets still hold a 6-4 win record against their rivals. Nikola Jokic has now seen the strategy that Anthony Edwards and Co. have placed against him. Going into Game 2, he may be more prepared.