Ty Lue on Nikola Jokic: “Our game plan was to make him score and take away his passing… I didn’t think he would score 55.”

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) November 13, 2025

Wednesday night saw Nikola Jokić paint one of the finest masterpieces of his illustrious career.

The Serbian superstar dropped 55 points (on just 23 shots at 91.5 percent true shooting) on the L.A. Clippers in a blowout 130-116 win for the Denver Nuggets. Jokić was so dominant that he outscored the Clippers’ starting lineup by himself. The thing about Jokić’s game is that, at this stage, as a three-time MVP, no one should be surprised by his ability to put the ball in the hoop at this high level. He’s one of the greatest NBA players of all time.

This sentiment especially applies Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, who has arguably been victimized (embarrassed?) by Jokić more than anyone else in the NBA. But despite Jokić’s Nuggets eliminating Lue’s Clippers twice from the playoffs in the last six years, and despite Jokić’s Nuggets winning 14 of their last 20 regular-season games over Lue’s Clippers, Lue decided to poke the bear again anyway.

His thought process predictably backfired.

In his Clippers postgame press conference, Lue admitted that he gave single coverage to Jokić because he wanted to limit the big man’s playmaking. In theory, if you don’t think too hard about it, this strategy makes sense. The Nuggets are usually much more dangerous if Jokić is throwing dimes all over the court. But Lue took this a step further, noting he didn’t think Jokić would be capable of dropping 55-plus on his defense.

Effectively, Lue dared the NBA’s most complete three-level scorer to score by … giving him the easiest possible defensive coverage. He reaped what he sowed:

In fairness to Lue, he probably had a good measure of confidence in Clippers starting center Ivica Zubac and veteran backup Brook Lopez to hold their own against Jokić. Zubac had a Defensive Player of the Year-caliber season last year. Lopez, even while older at 37, was an All-Defensive First Team selection just two seasons ago. You can at least see where Lue’s logic was in expecting Zubac and Lopez to hold up against the best player of his generation.

But there’s a difference in expecting your players to succeed against Jokić and actually putting them in a position to succeed. Yes, Zubac and Lopez are considered good defenders, but it was never a good idea to basically leave them on an island against Jokić. The Nuggets superstar is too skilled not to cook consistent single coverage, no matter how solid his opponent is. Slowing down a player like Jokić basically necessitates throwing bodies at him, and that’s to even have a chance at doing so.

And the other thing about Jokić that Lue should really understand by now is that he’s going to adapt quickly mid-game. If he sees you’re giving him a lighter defense than usual, he’s not going to hesitate trying to score. He will take what you give him without hesitation.

Lue’s defensive thought process against Jokić was admirable in its foolishness on Wednesday. Next time, maybe he’ll take the threat of Jokić abusing his defense as a lights-out scorer as seriously as he should.