Draymond Green Broke Down Jokic Dominating Gobert Early In Game 5: ‘BBQ Chicken Is Happening’

The first half of Game 5 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves was a Nikola Jokic masterclass, as the three-time MVP had 19 points and eight assists, doing just about everything for Denver to get them out to a six-point halftime lead.

Much of his work came against the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, who Jokic has taken great pleasure in going at for years. He hit Gobert with the full arsenal of moves, from speed to power to finesse, and Gobert simply didn’t have any way of slowing him down. At halftime, the TNT crew assembled with Draymond Green and Vince Carter sitting in for Charles Barkley and Shaq, and when it came time to break down the Joker’s big half, Green couldn’t help but steal Shaq’s most famous line, calling Gobert “BBQ chicken” in that 1-on-1 matchup and recounting a legendary Jokic-Gobert anecdote.

As Green is quick to note, this isn’t him continuing to pile on Gobert as he has been wont to do in the past, pointing out that he gave Gobert his due this year as a deserving DPOY. However, Green insists he’s just a “truth-teller” and in this game, Gobert has no chance on an island with Jokic, which is a place very few have success. The Wolves will certainly look to adjust in the second half, in particular trying to avoid letting Jokic get Gobert one-on-one in order to get Rudy off the grill.