NBA champion Kendrick Perkins believes he could slow down Nikola Jokic

During NBA Countdown on ESPN before Game 6 of Celtics vs. Knicks, Kendrick Perkins had some interesting words to say about what he would have done if he played against prime Jokic.

“Jokic wouldn’t have wanted this smoke. Kobe said I was the best post defender on the league.”

Whether Kobe said this or not, it's interesting to hear coming from a player that isn't always looked at an one of the elite bigs in recent NBA history.

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Could Big Perk slow down Jokic's game?

Perkins' biggest accomplishment was his role in helping the Celtics win a championship in 2008.

He played 25.2 MPG that postseason and averaged 1.3 BPG.

The following season, Perkins had an even better stretch of playoff basketball, in the 2009 playoffs, averaging 11.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG and 2.6 BPG.

Advanced player stats for when one player is guarding another only started about 6 years ago, so we can't see past matchups between Jokic and Perkins.

Perkins' 6-10 270Ib stature is not an easy build to score on, but with how dominant Jokic has been in today's NBA, 'slowing him down' is very hard to accomplish.

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Slowing him down is subjective anyway when he practically puts up a triple-double and a historic statline on great efficiency every night.

In the current Thunder vs. Nuggets series, Jaylin Williams has been the most effective defender on Jokic through six games, holding him to 30.8 FG% this series on 8/26 from the field.

During the regular season, Ivica Zubac was able to contain Jokic relatively well in 25:20 of total matchup time in three games. 

He held Jokic to 44.1 FG% on 15/34 shooting. Jokic also had nine turnovers when guarded by Zubac in the regular season.

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At the end of the day, it is extremely hard to contain Jokic, so anything that limits his normal production and forces him to make mistakes will for most of the time satisfy coaches.