Nikola Jokic Already Sounds Exhausted by Timberwolves’ Defense, Depth

Throw in all of the rapport and locker room chemistry that Minnesota seems to have built, since Mike Conley replaced D’Angelo Russell at the point guard position last season, at the trade deadline. And suddenly, it appears to be the Wolves who provide quite an uphill climb for the defending champs, not the other way around.

After game one, Joker took to the postgame interview table and spoke with reporters about how much of a challenge the Timberwolves pose. The clip that is making its rounds centers around his appreciation for Anthony Edwards. But the longer version shows more of an admiration for how the Wolves are built, as a whole.

Jokic already exhausted by Timberwolves defense and depth?

At one point, Jokic is asked how the Nuggets are supposed to overcome all the difficulties Minnesota represents, from a defense and size standpoint. To that, Jokic hesitated and admitted that they might need a clone machine to realistically have a chance. The full quote, though (below) is even better.

Reporter: “What’s the adjustment that you can make to Rudy Gobert’s length; not only that, them just rotating three fresh bigs [Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid] on you for most of the game? on you?”

Jokic: | LONG PAUSE | “Umm… to have a duplicate clone of myself…? And then I can, you know, I can be fresh when they sub another guy I’m gonna be fresh.. I don’t know, my friend, I think that’s why they’re good. They can play big, they can play small, they can put a lot of guys on a lot of guys. They are long, they are physical, they rebound really well, they’re aggressive. I mean, I’m satisfied with the shots that I took. Some of them I missed, some of them I made. It’s a tough game and they are a really good defensive team.”

Obviously, the Denver Nuggets are not going to bow out of this series. They will fight tooth and nail until the very end. But Jokic clearly knows what we all know. That over the course of a seven game series, it is going to be very difficult for a beaten up, depth deprived Nuggets team to hang with the Wolves, especially the way they are able to guard The Joker.

He almost sounds defeated, which is kind of crazy, given this is only game one. But it’s like he is already planning for how the Nuggets will have to tweak their roster in the offseason, in order to manage Minnesota’s size and depth.

Again, I’m not calling this series over. I’m just calling last night’s game and the reactions afterwards as I saw them.