Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have advanced to the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs, where they'll face Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers. The series is expected to be a tight one, and Jokic knows his team will have a hard time containing Lillard's offensive firepower.

“You can not… In this league right now you can not lock someone (like that) up,” Jokic told Harrison Wind of BSN Denver after Monday's practice. “Maybe we can keep him below 25, but it’s still 25, or 30, but he’s playing at a really high level.”

Lillard is indeed playing at a high level in the postseason, as Jokic said. Through the first five games of the playoffs, Lillard has racked up averages of 33.0 points on 46.1 percent shooting from the field (48.1 percent from beyond the arc), 6.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals in 39.8 minutes per outing.

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In their first-round series, Portland sent the Oklahoma City Thunder home in five games. Lillard was spectacular, to say the least. In Game 5, he hit a 37-foot buzzer-beater, capping off a career-high 50-point playoff performance.

As for Jokic and the Nuggets, they'll be coming off a seven-game series against the San Antonio Spurs. Like Lillard, Jokic has played well in the postseason. The Serbian-born big man has turned in averages of 23.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 1.3 steals through his first seven playoff appearances.

The Nuggets and Blazers will meet for Game 1 on Monday night. Tip-off inside the Pepsi Center is set for 10:30 p.m. ET, with TNT having live broadcast coverage.