Crazy Nikola Jokic stat that doomed Nuggets vs. Blazers

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The Portland Trail Blazers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the 2021 NBA playoffs so far after beating Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Damian Lillard came up big for the Blazers once again, registering a game-high 34 points and 13 assists. However, his performance was not the only reason for their win, as stopping Jokic and limiting his production on other areas of the floor helped Portland big time.
As Blazers head coach Terry Stotts and center Jusuf Nurkic noted, their game plan all along was to prevent Jokic from involving his teammates, which they did after they limited the Serbian big man and NBA MVP candidate to just one assist. In fact, Jokic wasn’t even able to register a dime in the first half, even though he also made 34 points in the contest.
Stotts admitted that the Nuggets are a dangerous team when Jokic gets his teammates involved, but when they were able to stop that, it is when they are able to exploit the Nuggets’ weakness.

Terry Stotts on stopping Nikola Jokic: “1 assist, zero in the first half. I think we can do a better job on him individually, but when he can get other people involved, they’re a better offensive team.”
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 23, 2021

Terry Stotts on stopping Nikola Jokic: “1 assist, zero in the first half. I think we can do a better job on him individually, but when he can get other people involved, they’re a better offensive team.”
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 23, 2021

Nikola Jokic is considered as one of the best passing big men in the NBA today. He averaged a near triple-double of 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in the 2020-21 regular season, so seeing him just dish out one assist is truly perplexing.
However, it also speaks a lot on the preparation the Blazers made against the Nuggets. Denver is a dangerous team with two elite scorers in Jokic and Michael Porter Jr, but they still found a way to stop that offense that ranked fourth in the NBA throughout the campaign.
It’s doubtful the Blazers can keep it up given Jokic’s talent, but it should be enough to give them confidence as they try to contend for the title. Also, knowing one of the Nuggets’ weaknesses should be beneficial in what is looking to be a long NBA playoff series.