Having recently inserted rookie center Trayce Jackson-Davis into the starting lineup for Kevon Looney, the Golden State Warriors are going back to Looney for Thursday night's game vs. the Denver Nuggets. This places the more experienced Looney on Jokic to start the game, which makes sense for a lot of reasons.
While Golden State has really liked what Jackson-Davis has brought this season, especially since his insertion into the starting lineup, the rookie center is prone to foul trouble. This is common for rookies, especially rookie centers, and it could become an even bigger problem vs. Nikola Jokic.
Jokic shot 18 free throws in Denver's Christmas win over the Warriors, which was a major talking point after the game. With how crafty Jokic is at getting his defender out of position, this could be a very difficult matchup for Jackson-Davis to avoid foul trouble. Wanting to keep the rookie big man available when needed most, the Warriors are keeping him on the bench to begin this game.
While Looney has his limitations, the veteran big man is very savvy. Having faced Jokic several times, Looney understands his tendencies, and will be relied upon to take that assignment to start this game. There is no answer for Jokic, and the Warriors of course do not believe Looney will stop him, but Steve Kerr sees this as the best option to start this game.
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