Excitement and fear both linger in the air as LeBron James heads to Ball Arena for a redemption re-match against Nikola Jokić. The last time the two teams faced one another in the postseason, it was in the Western Conference finals last year. Although it went terribly wrong for the Lakers with a 4-0 blowout, the key to defeating the Slovenian Goliath might just be in repetition.

A recent post on X, notes down a defensive strategy that might help Bron and Co. take down the 7ft center. “I logged all 800+ Nikola Jokic post up scoring possessions this season: Less than 1% of his post ups played 1v1 resulted in him committing a bad pass turnover. He had a 1:1 ratio of assists to bad pass turnovers facing weak side help defense. Send weak side help!” stated the caption.

In the clip compilation, Jokic is struggling against defenders in the post-up move, either turning the ball away or out of bounds when guarded. This could turn out to be the Key for Los Angeles to put an end to that unguardable pick and roll that Jamal Murray and Jokic run. However, executing a lockdown defense like that on the Joker is easier said than done. As the former MVP only turns the ball over 3.1 times a game on average.

That statistic is mind-boggling as Jokic has possession of the ball through the majority of the game. All in all, the Lakers have a rough four games ahead of them.

Can LeBron James and the Lakers stop Nikola Jokić?

This season, the Joker has scripted another regular season for the history books. While scoring 26.5 points a game, Jokic added 9 assists and 12 rebounds averaging a near triple-double this season. So, in the postseason, the Lakers can expect him to turn a notch higher. When facing Los Angeles, he leads both in four statistical categories including points(26.4), rebounds(9), assists(9), and steals(1.37).

The only way to stop the Nuggets is to curb their ball movement. Which can only come with lockdown defense from the Lakers. King James has shown his affinity towards it in the past with his freak athleticism and chase down blocks. In his career, James has averaged 28.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 282 games in the playoffs.

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So, now with their work cut out for them can the Lakers win? Will LeBron get a shot at his 5th Larry O’Brien Trophy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.