Denver Nuggets: 3 things to watch going into the Semi-finals

Early in the San Antonio series you could tell Jokic was ready for the big stage of the NBA playoffs with a triple double in his first playoff game, and has only gotten better each game of the series including a heroic effort in game 6 with 43 points and a tremendous defensive effort in the third quarter.

In his first seven playoff games Jokic has averaged 23 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists his first playoff series and has looked dominant while doing so. Jokic has shown he can be both a teams primary option while still distributing the ball to the open man and a particularly deadly two-man game with Murray who has emerged as the clear second option on this young Nuggets team.

Against the Trail Blazers Jokic averaged 25.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8 assists in the regular season and the Nuggets won each of the three games he played in including a 40-point offensive masterclass on 15 of 23 shooting and 4 of 7 from three-point range.

The only question mark left for Jokic to answer is his ability to defend dynamic fast guards when they he gets targeted and switched onto a much faster smaller player 30 feet from the rim. Jokic during the San Antonio series looked respectable defending players on the perimeter but the Spurs never actively targeted him every trip down the court with a screen to switch Jokic onto a guard as outstanding as Dame Lillard.