Who's going to defend Jokic? Redick is the perfect guy to put Davis under pressure

The Lakers are about to face off in the first round of the playoffs against the Nuggets, and the biggest question for the Lakers around this series is who will come and go against Jokic. Obviously, Davis is not a very good choice, because if Davis plays Jokic, then it is basically equivalent to tearing down the Lakers' interior defense.

Because Davis will be firmly pinned down by Jokic, the Nuggets' outside and forward players can break through to the Lakers' basket with impunity. For example, a player with explosive physical talent like Gordon has no one to stop him. So you have to find a player who can resist Jokic as much as possible to defend Jokic, maybe this player can't limit Jokic, but at least some amount of attrition on him. Recently, Redick gave a choice when talking about the Lakers' defense, and this candidate is also the one who the Lakers used to defend Jokic against the Nuggets last season. He is Hachimura.

Redick believes that Hachimura should be allowed to defend Jokic as much as possible, so that Davis can stay under the basket, and he can block the breakthrough line of the opponent's forward line at any time and do a good job of helping to defend under the basket. It's simply unrealistic for the Lakers to try to contain Jokic's offense against the Nuggets. So if you can't prevent Jokic, it's better to curb other people's play as much as possible. Redick admitted that although the Nuggets are a team with a good three-point shooting percentage, they don't shoot many three-pointers throughout the season, and they prefer to play to the basket and attack.

So if Davis guards the basket at this time, it is equivalent to killing a scoring skill of the Nuggets. It was a very crucial defensive set-up. In general, if the Lakers want to beat the Nuggets, they need to reduce the scores of those around Jokic as much as possible. It's not terrible for Jokic to score 40 points in a game, but it's terrible to get 40 points and deliver a dozen assists at the same time. This is unacceptable to any team. Players like Murray, Pope, and Porter Jr. around Jokic must not let them shoot, and if they do, the Lakers will not have any chance of winning.

So the Lakers let Hachimura go to the top while defending Jokic, and Davis could take the pressure off himself. In addition, the Lakers must play their advantage in defense and counterattack when facing the Nuggets, and play a fast-paced offense as much as possible. After all, Jokic's speed isn't particularly great when he's on a quick offense. The Lakers have to be as fast as possible in this series.