Nuggets HC points out Nikola Jokic's surprisingly low free throw attempts in physical Game 6 loss to Clippers

On Thursday night, Nikola Jokic and the rest of the Denver Nuggets fell short of closing out the LA Clippers, who prevailed 111-105 to force a Game 7. Though the Clippers won a number of categories in this Game 6 conquest, the Nuggets' interim head coach drew attention to one particular aspect that he found interesting, to say the least.

After the Clippers' six-point win at Intuit Dome, David Adelman — who is getting his first taste of playoff action at the helm after taking over from Mike Malone late in the season — wondered out loud about the number of foul line attempts awarded to Nikola Jokic:

"Nikola gets fouled a lot. I’m not sure what was happening tonight but for him to only shoot two free throws," Adelman said as per Nuggets beat writer Brendan Vogt.

Heading into Thursday night, Jokic had averaged 6.2 free throw attempts per outing in this series. Throughout Game 6, the three-time MVP had to contend with the physicality imposed by Clippers center Ivica Zubac, whose persistence on the defensive end kept Jokic from going off in the fourth quarter.

Jokic finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, but neither he nor Jamal Murray could land a haymaker that could stop the Clippers in their tracks and end the series in the City of Angels.

Adelman, for his part, is leaning towards fighting fire with fire in the do-or-die game:

"Really excited for us [to get just as physical with their stars]," he added. "We will go there in Game 7."

The final showdown of this series takes place on Saturday on the Nuggets' home floor.

Analyst points out Nikola Jokic's struggles against Clippers big man

In all likelihood, one of the problems for the Nuggets coaching staff to solve is how to get their star center going against the Clippers' designated Jokic stopper.

Shortly after Game 6, analyst Ramona Shelburne brought up some stats that highlighted the effectiveness of Ivica Zubac against the one-time NBA champion:

"According to @ESPNStatsInfo Nikola Jokic was 5-14 with Ivica Zubac as his primary defender in Game 6, including 1-8 in the 2nd half," Shelburne tweeted.

Over the last few years, not a lot of teams could make the claim that they had a big man capable of making life difficult for Jokic when it counted the most in the playoffs. Game 7, then, is shaping up to be the biggest test of Zubac's NBA career.