The 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat begins on Thursday night. Nikola Jokić, fresh off of defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, is hoping to bring Denver its first NBA championship in franchise history.
The Heat, meanwhile, are tasked with finding a way to slow the two-time MVP down to buy themselves a chance at shocking the world and becoming the first No. 8 seed in NBA history to win a championship. And they may use an unlikely source — Lakers forward Tristan Thompson — for advice.
Prior to the start of the Finals, Thompson broke down some of the film from his limited minutes in the Conference Finals to provide some advice to the Heat on how to guard Jokić.
Thompson spoke about how to guard the Serbian big man before he catches the ball and how to position yourself as a defender once he has the ball in his hands, via Malika Andrews of ESPN:
Tristan Thompson brings his firsthand experience guarding Nikola Jokic in the Western Conference Finals to NBA Today. He has some advice for the Miami Heat: pic.twitter.com/L9UVcCAy56
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 31, 2023
Thompson played just 11 minutes over the course of the four-game sweep against the Nuggets, but he still provided a valuable lesson to the Heat in how to guard Jokić. Making the Nuggets center work harder for every single moment on the offensive end slows down the flow of the normally seamless Denver offense.
Thompson did a serviceable job guarding Jokić during his limited time, and even helped the Lakers go on a small run during their Game 4 loss. It’s unclear how he would have fared in a bigger sample size, but to provide quality minutes despite having not played all season is an impressive feat.
The Heat begin their attempt to stop Jokić on Thursday night as both sides try to make a bit of history.
Dwight Howard taking himself over Jokić
Another former Laker to discuss Jokić is center Dwight Howard, who was asked to compare himself to the Nuggets center when he was in his prime. Of course, Howard bet on himself.
He said that, in his prime, he would take himself over Jokić without a doubt, joking that he would dominate every play with a smile on his face. Howard’s prime was one of the more dominant defensive forces in NBA history, making it a relatively interesting matchup against one of the best offensive centers the league has ever seen.
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