Given that he was the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, it was no small accomplishment that when Denver forward/center Nikola Jokic made his debut last season, he was chosen First-team All-Rookie. Jokic’s encore campaign begins Wednesday with an unenviable task, with him matched up against three-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis, who is beginning his fifth NBA season.
Although Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said in pregame that Jokic will be assigned to Davis, the effort to try to slow down New Orleans’ best player will be a team objective.
“Nikola will start on him, but anytime you guard a great player, it’s not one person,” Malone said roughly 90 minutes before tip-off in the Smoothie King Center.