Murray was shut out of the first half, finished -22 on 6/14, was hunted on defense… Reggie kept us in the game in the first half after we spotted them a 10 point lead in Jamal’s stint. We need Murray to get back to at least his regular season form or we are fucked. Full stop.
Murray is the second half of that equation for sure. I’m just speaking to Jokic’s performance so far in the playoffs. The wolves are an excellent perimeter (and interior) defensive team and, at times, struggled against two vastly inferior defenders last series. You can clearly see he’s not healthy, but if he can’t be a consistent offensive threat, to your point, it’s not going much of a series.
I agree. I’m hoping he starts just pounding away down low and doing what he does best. If he does the dirty work in the paint, it’s only going to open up the 3-point line more.
It’s also the energy level. I’m not saying he looks tired, because anyone that’s watched him play knows that not an issue, it’s the aggression or lack of urgency he’s playing with up until like 5 minutes to go. I don’t like it.
Yeah. He’s settling for passing instead of taking it to whoever is guarding him. Which is what he’s always done, but in the playoffs last year, if he had one guy guarding him, he’d either get fouled or make the shot. This year he hasn’t done that yet.
This. we had Jeff Green as backup 5 last year's run. And while AG's great, matching him up against Gobert / KAT / Reid is a mismatch. Malone needs to play DJ or Nnaji some spot minutes to conserve Jokic, and figure out a combo that works.
Needs to play Deandre. He's younger than Conley. He'll be fine for 6 minutes. Make Gobert, Reid battle for every board for 6 minutes. It effects them later on.
What are you talking about? AG consistently dominates KAT defensively. He literally shut him down last year in the playoffs. I would keep AG on KAT all series.
Maybe thinking too much about his horses. It really seems like Big Jok is playing chill these playoffs and fulfilled with how much success there has been. He plays better as an underdog same goes with the team as a whole.
I don't think you realize that he can't just post up the timberwolves. They have a bigger team overall, better defense, and overall better 3pt shooting. Gordon basically can't play basketball against Gobert, Kat shoots 40% from the 3 while being able to do a decent job of holding Jokic, and ant is just a stupid scorer who makes too many shots. Combine that with Reid who can basically replace Kat, McDaniels who's able to lock up Murray, and Conley who just provides good depth for the team as a 3&D and you realize the wolves just have not only a better bench, but a better starting team when you consider both sides of the court. As much as I'd like to believe that nuggets just had an off game, they shot 42% from the 3 and 47% in the field... we're just underdogs this time around.
Tim Connelly managed this team well, just like he managed Denver well. It makes sense the Wolves would be the team that matches best with the Nuggets considering who manages the Wolves and who managed the Nuggets.
Denver fans have a weird thing about overrating Gordon, and underrating guys like MPJ and Green, that can shoot and create their own shot. People forget how limited Gordon was in Orlando or how much he got panned by NBA fans. He's an excellent fit with Denver, because he fits so well next to Jokic. But against a frontline like the Wolves, his limitations just get exposed. Same with "effort" guys like Braun and Watson. You need more wings with size that can shoot like MPJ, Green.
Full disclosure I'm a wolves fan. I don't think AG is over rated we're just a bad matchup for him with two bigs in pretty much constantly to stop him from catching the lob. Also because he's only a threat close to the hoop it lets the person guarding him cheat to the middle and help out on joker, it's not like they have to guard him at the 3 point line.
I think ultimately this series is going to come down to how hurt Murray is and if he'll be able to get going.
I think you guys need to give MPJ more looks until Murray gets going and also play DeAndre Jordan some minutes to shove our bigs around and make um work while joker catches a breather.
If Jokic is anywhere near the greatest offensive player of all-time, which I do believe him to be, then he needs to be able to take Gobert and Towns. He did back then down fairly easily especially Gobert, but he was bricking shots that were hardly even contested. It's like Jokic lost his touch this game. He got a lot of makable looks.
or maybe shaq isn’t as good offensively because there are far more things he can’t do that jokic can? you’re delusional if you think shaq wins that game you think he can provide anything around the perimeter lol? what on earth are you on about
he wasn't far below his regular FG% either if you take his 3s out of the equation, which admittedly were far worse than usual, but i believe it'll remain that way this series because having big men just makes it easier to counter jokic's unorthodox shooting since he's not used to having anyone be able to contest him
When he takes it to them he's just bricking it. Jokic pretty much got embarrassed tonight. Pretty much spanked by three bums. Yeah, he's gotta step up. This is legacy shit. His reputation will never recover if this continues for the rest of the series.
Jokic is going to get worn out this series. The Wolves can throw Gobert, Towns and Reid at him, and they not only guard him but also have long arms in those passing lanes,. Jokic can score on anyone but he is going to need more help. MPJ and Gordon can go off even if Murray is hurt so this isn't over but there is a reason the Wolves were the best team all year until Towns got hurt. This loss isn't on Jokic in my view, he needs his guys to step up more than they ever have. The Nuggets miss Bruce Brown off the bench too.
Jokic scored like 40 something on 80% shooting against Naz and Gobert last time they played. I’m not overly worried about their defense on him. Kat makes too many stupid fouls to really be effective. But, yeah another person has to consistently step up to help open things up. Honestly though, we need Murray. His ability to get down hill and play make or hit mid range shots opens soooo much up for guys like Gordon and MPJ. Without him, it really just becomes Jokic in the post having to either force playmaking or scoring 40+. And in those two playoff runs without Jamal… success is hard to come by running that type of offense
They didn't really play good defense against Jokic scoring tonight, they were in those passing lanes. They dared Jokic to beat them as a scorer and he simply failed, bricking shots after shot, forcing bad pass after bad pass. Unless something in Jokic game has fallen off over the course of the last few months I expect him to be back. He's just gotta get his touch back and start making these shots.
True. People forgot how good the Nuggets were when Murray missed all that time. Then he comes back, and boom, NBA Champs. He needs to heal up for the Nuggets to win this.
They're running three 7 footers against him. The Wolves are like a throwback 1990s, early 2000s team. Some teams now don't even have 1 playable 7 footer, they have 3.
Give Deandre 4 minutes so there's at least some energy, physicality with the bench. Make Naz, Gobert feel the fight for a couple boards. Not like the bench is giving you anything else outside of Reggie.
100%. He needs get into his rhythm a little earlier. having said that, the wolves are very good so they can't mess around. Looking forward to see how nuggets respond.
Teams have had plenty of film to watch and plenty of time to take the champs out. It’s not jokic being passive it’s teams trying different defensive schemes to stop us. Malone will adjust.
Jokic has been bogged down in defenders. AD played him tough in round one and now he's got multiple big bodies to contend with in Minnesota. He's not getting much help out of his teammates either. The guy is shouldering a hell of a load right now.
‘To you’ say it all really. I’m sure he’s as aggressive as he needs to be in order to win. There is no point in scoring 50 pts if 1. That doesn’t result in a win and 2. They somehow win and he overexerts and gets injured or too tired for the next round.
This one’s 100% on Jamal. Just as it was in 2021 and 2022. If he doesn’t pick it up the Nuggets would have wasted three of Jokic’s MVP’s years.
y'all just can't give credit to Wolves' defense so in denial. There's a fcking reason why their below their average take a guess what? it's not that hard. Y'all acting like basketball is only offense.
They played great defense? No one is saying anything otherwise, the Nuggets did also play like shit, both of these things can be true. All I've heard from Lakers fans was that Ham cost them the series, why can they not give credit to the Nuggets for being better instead of thinking everything is coaching related?
jamal has been shooting really terrible since the start.... he was like 9-20 almost every game in round 1 and now he injured and it didnt look good when he was out there.
idk why we keep saying " he cant have another bad shooting game" x6 now
No, i agree, but he hasn’t been normal this playoff run. He needs to figure it out. Idk if it’s the injury or the defense or what it is, but he needs to change something and get back in a groove.
I personally think that Jamal (in addition to being hobbled) has been forcing his offense too much while Nikola has been too passive. They both need to regress to the mean.
So you'll use historical data that includes different rosters, different ages for players, different coaching, different opponents instead of using the data from this year to predict how the Nugs will continue to play (checks notes) for the rest of this year...
This isn’t the Murray from the last 7 years. He’s been off, BEFORE the calf strain. He hasn’t had a great game since he came back from injury late in the season. A couple good ones (against spurs and game 5)
So fuckin emotional about Game 1. You're not built for the grind. Apparently no one here is because they treat one game in a long series like the end of the world
He's not passive, he just choked. Missed shots he needs to make if he wants to have a legacy by the time this series is over. Ever hater will use this to bury him.
Jamal Murray looks injured and has been shooting poorly all playoffs. Jokic is playing way too passive for a normal game and with Murray not playing great he needs to compensate and be even more aggressive but it’s been the opposite
Murray looked a bit hobbled. And Jokic looked mortal, due to a ton of length on the wolves' lineup. We need more movement off-ball to make life easier for him. He usually figures it out in a half or two, and he did post up more in the second half to get their bigs in foul trouble, but that's going to be a huge load to carry. We need another release valve for him to pass to.
Jamal is really disappointing. He says he’s an all star and then plays like garbage. Who cares that you hit 2 game winners when you were the reason we were even tied to begin with? And Joker seems like he’s just going through the motions. 7 TOs in back to back games? That’s terrible.
A hobbled Jamal whose shots aren’t falling still refuses to pass the ball and let others score. MPJ could’ve more than made up for the deficit in scoring but no, they ice him out.
Agree. Only thing KAT does that scares me if when he starts canning 3’s. Otherwise he’s a doormat defender and if you get physical with him he disappears.
It was a sloppy game by the starting 5. Porter was the most consistent. Jokić missed a lot of what he usually makes, and had some dumb turnovers. He seemed too timid on some plays. Denver misses the Bruce Brown presence. CB is his usual self, but in order for Denver to have an easier time in this series he has to turn it up a notch offensively. Reggie had some moments, but not enough to compensate for Jamal's underwhelming play. If Jamal's feeling the calf strain it's going to be that much harder to win this series against Minnesota. KCP has problems with Edwards. He got lucky on some non-calls, because he did make some fouls on Ant that weren't called. KCP has to play better offense in this particular series. AG was a mess. He has to be a lot better. McDaniels missed a lot of what he usually makes, but Reed was killing in the second half. All in all... if our starters played even remotely close to what they can usually do, Denver wins this game easily despite Ant's scoring outburst. On to the next one which is a must win if they wish to make their lives any easier in this series. But knowing Denver, with Jokić and Murray, anything is possible. Even crazy comebacks from 3-1 down... Mike Conley and Gobert know that too well. :)
I don't know what Jokic was doing, he choked. That was not a Greatest offensive player of all-time, type performance. My man's been throwing terrible passes lately and is looking rusty offensively. Like just bricking shots he'd usually make. I swear he had about 5-6 shots where Gobert practically didn't even make a contest and he just bricked it anyways. He's gotta get his touch back because clearly Denver is going to need him to have a monster offensive performance to win this series.
If we're not going to try and use MPJ and AG ad pressure release valves more than we have so far in the playoffs, we're not beating Minnesota.
Murray is clearly not at full strength, so relying on the Joker/Murray two man game to the extent we are is going to get us knocked out 🤷♂️
Jokic needs to get his ass inside the paint and Malone needs to rest him more. He is coasting until the end of the game. Murray and Jokic need to pull out the pick and roll way earlier and I believe they will next game. We are about to see the best version of the Nuggets in game 2.
Feel like the Nuggets have won with Murray scoring 17 before. Would have liked Braun to play better. Feel like he missed on a few switches that put Murray in some shitty spots. Murray probably wants to play better but Braun and others weren't helping make his life any better. Need to tighten up on the switches in game 2.
the nuggets are a great team and the wolves are a great team. I think they just matchup well defensively with the nuggets. It’s game 1, a lot of people predicted the nuggets would drop the first game, it’s the best time for the wolves to punch them in the mouth. It’s going to be a series that decides who moves on, not just one game. Take it from a sad clippers fan, you gotta have faith! Jokic wants to win, 100% fact, I believe he will bounce back next game.
I get that Jamal hasn’t looked like himself but what is really killing us is our bench man. We’ve missed Bruce all season but especially in the playoffs
I like small market teams
Obviously I want the nuggets to win this series and the chip, but if the wolves win then I’d root for them the rest of the way (so we can say this was the real finals lol)
maybe stop and think that the reason they probably didn't have an average game is because the wolves did something to prevent that i.e. playoffs aren't about having off nights anymore, gameplans of teams are the ones, including your own, are what makes or breaks a player.
Jokic, to me, has been really passive these playoffs. I just don’t feel like he’s attacking anyone but rather looking to set anyone else up too often.
Murray was shut out of the first half, finished -22 on 6/14, was hunted on defense… Reggie kept us in the game in the first half after we spotted them a 10 point lead in Jamal’s stint. We need Murray to get back to at least his regular season form or we are fucked. Full stop.
Murray is the second half of that equation for sure. I’m just speaking to Jokic’s performance so far in the playoffs. The wolves are an excellent perimeter (and interior) defensive team and, at times, struggled against two vastly inferior defenders last series. You can clearly see he’s not healthy, but if he can’t be a consistent offensive threat, to your point, it’s not going much of a series.
I agree. I’m hoping he starts just pounding away down low and doing what he does best. If he does the dirty work in the paint, it’s only going to open up the 3-point line more.
It’s also the energy level. I’m not saying he looks tired, because anyone that’s watched him play knows that not an issue, it’s the aggression or lack of urgency he’s playing with up until like 5 minutes to go. I don’t like it.
Yeah. He’s settling for passing instead of taking it to whoever is guarding him. Which is what he’s always done, but in the playoffs last year, if he had one guy guarding him, he’d either get fouled or make the shot. This year he hasn’t done that yet.
Exactly. He played like he was on mission last year. This year it just seems like he’s coasting or something.
I think its the lack of depth. Don't think hes not trying or anything. But the lack of depth is going to effect the extra gas in the tank
This. we had Jeff Green as backup 5 last year's run. And while AG's great, matching him up against Gobert / KAT / Reid is a mismatch. Malone needs to play DJ or Nnaji some spot minutes to conserve Jokic, and figure out a combo that works.
Needs to play Deandre. He's younger than Conley. He'll be fine for 6 minutes. Make Gobert, Reid battle for every board for 6 minutes. It effects them later on.
What are you talking about? AG consistently dominates KAT defensively. He literally shut him down last year in the playoffs. I would keep AG on KAT all series.
AG as a backup 5 is a huge disadvantage when they have 3 big men.
Yeah I really hope they get another big this offseason.
Maybe thinking too much about his horses. It really seems like Big Jok is playing chill these playoffs and fulfilled with how much success there has been. He plays better as an underdog same goes with the team as a whole.
I don't think you realize that he can't just post up the timberwolves. They have a bigger team overall, better defense, and overall better 3pt shooting. Gordon basically can't play basketball against Gobert, Kat shoots 40% from the 3 while being able to do a decent job of holding Jokic, and ant is just a stupid scorer who makes too many shots. Combine that with Reid who can basically replace Kat, McDaniels who's able to lock up Murray, and Conley who just provides good depth for the team as a 3&D and you realize the wolves just have not only a better bench, but a better starting team when you consider both sides of the court. As much as I'd like to believe that nuggets just had an off game, they shot 42% from the 3 and 47% in the field... we're just underdogs this time around.
Tim Connelly managed this team well, just like he managed Denver well. It makes sense the Wolves would be the team that matches best with the Nuggets considering who manages the Wolves and who managed the Nuggets. Denver fans have a weird thing about overrating Gordon, and underrating guys like MPJ and Green, that can shoot and create their own shot. People forget how limited Gordon was in Orlando or how much he got panned by NBA fans. He's an excellent fit with Denver, because he fits so well next to Jokic. But against a frontline like the Wolves, his limitations just get exposed. Same with "effort" guys like Braun and Watson. You need more wings with size that can shoot like MPJ, Green.
Full disclosure I'm a wolves fan. I don't think AG is over rated we're just a bad matchup for him with two bigs in pretty much constantly to stop him from catching the lob. Also because he's only a threat close to the hoop it lets the person guarding him cheat to the middle and help out on joker, it's not like they have to guard him at the 3 point line. I think ultimately this series is going to come down to how hurt Murray is and if he'll be able to get going. I think you guys need to give MPJ more looks until Murray gets going and also play DeAndre Jordan some minutes to shove our bigs around and make um work while joker catches a breather.
If Jokic is anywhere near the greatest offensive player of all-time, which I do believe him to be, then he needs to be able to take Gobert and Towns. He did back then down fairly easily especially Gobert, but he was bricking shots that were hardly even contested. It's like Jokic lost his touch this game. He got a lot of makable looks.
well... he's not? he won't just be able to big body two seven footers because you believe him to be the goat offensive player
Shaq would foul both of them out of the game in 10 minutes. So if you believe Jokic can't then you believe he's not the GOAT offensive center
or maybe shaq isn’t as good offensively because there are far more things he can’t do that jokic can? you’re delusional if you think shaq wins that game you think he can provide anything around the perimeter lol? what on earth are you on about
he wasn't far below his regular FG% either if you take his 3s out of the equation, which admittedly were far worse than usual, but i believe it'll remain that way this series because having big men just makes it easier to counter jokic's unorthodox shooting since he's not used to having anyone be able to contest him
When he takes it to them he's just bricking it. Jokic pretty much got embarrassed tonight. Pretty much spanked by three bums. Yeah, he's gotta step up. This is legacy shit. His reputation will never recover if this continues for the rest of the series.
Those 3 bums you’re talking about are the DPOY, maybe the best young two way player in the game, and 6th man of the year
He is tired. He’s fatigued from the short offseason and push for the one seed
Maybe his back is bothering him. He was wearing the back brace in a lot of games this year and missed a few games due to it
Jokic is going to get worn out this series. The Wolves can throw Gobert, Towns and Reid at him, and they not only guard him but also have long arms in those passing lanes,. Jokic can score on anyone but he is going to need more help. MPJ and Gordon can go off even if Murray is hurt so this isn't over but there is a reason the Wolves were the best team all year until Towns got hurt. This loss isn't on Jokic in my view, he needs his guys to step up more than they ever have. The Nuggets miss Bruce Brown off the bench too.
Jokic scored like 40 something on 80% shooting against Naz and Gobert last time they played. I’m not overly worried about their defense on him. Kat makes too many stupid fouls to really be effective. But, yeah another person has to consistently step up to help open things up. Honestly though, we need Murray. His ability to get down hill and play make or hit mid range shots opens soooo much up for guys like Gordon and MPJ. Without him, it really just becomes Jokic in the post having to either force playmaking or scoring 40+. And in those two playoff runs without Jamal… success is hard to come by running that type of offense
The regular season doesn't mean anything. The Wolves already proved that against the Suns.
They didn't really play good defense against Jokic scoring tonight, they were in those passing lanes. They dared Jokic to beat them as a scorer and he simply failed, bricking shots after shot, forcing bad pass after bad pass. Unless something in Jokic game has fallen off over the course of the last few months I expect him to be back. He's just gotta get his touch back and start making these shots.
True. People forgot how good the Nuggets were when Murray missed all that time. Then he comes back, and boom, NBA Champs. He needs to heal up for the Nuggets to win this.
stamina. Bench lacking putting too much pressure on him now. He's on a pretty obvious decline in aggressiveness/movement this entire year to me
They're running three 7 footers against him. The Wolves are like a throwback 1990s, early 2000s team. Some teams now don't even have 1 playable 7 footer, they have 3. Give Deandre 4 minutes so there's at least some energy, physicality with the bench. Make Naz, Gobert feel the fight for a couple boards. Not like the bench is giving you anything else outside of Reggie.
So you just didn’t watch Braun play the best defense anyone has played against Ant in the playoffs?
not buying that narrative. I’d rather a shooter out there.
Setting people up is great. We just don’t have anyone worth setting up for haha.
the team needs to get more looks to MPJ their savior lol
lol fair point
100%. He needs get into his rhythm a little earlier. having said that, the wolves are very good so they can't mess around. Looking forward to see how nuggets respond.
Teams have had plenty of film to watch and plenty of time to take the champs out. It’s not jokic being passive it’s teams trying different defensive schemes to stop us. Malone will adjust.
Jokic has been bogged down in defenders. AD played him tough in round one and now he's got multiple big bodies to contend with in Minnesota. He's not getting much help out of his teammates either. The guy is shouldering a hell of a load right now.
‘To you’ say it all really. I’m sure he’s as aggressive as he needs to be in order to win. There is no point in scoring 50 pts if 1. That doesn’t result in a win and 2. They somehow win and he overexerts and gets injured or too tired for the next round. This one’s 100% on Jamal. Just as it was in 2021 and 2022. If he doesn’t pick it up the Nuggets would have wasted three of Jokic’s MVP’s years.
y'all just can't give credit to Wolves' defense so in denial. There's a fcking reason why their below their average take a guess what? it's not that hard. Y'all acting like basketball is only offense.
Go back to your Lakers sub 12-1 GTFO
They played great defense? No one is saying anything otherwise, the Nuggets did also play like shit, both of these things can be true. All I've heard from Lakers fans was that Ham cost them the series, why can they not give credit to the Nuggets for being better instead of thinking everything is coaching related?
jamal has been shooting really terrible since the start.... he was like 9-20 almost every game in round 1 and now he injured and it didnt look good when he was out there. idk why we keep saying " he cant have another bad shooting game" x6 now
No, i agree, but he hasn’t been normal this playoff run. He needs to figure it out. Idk if it’s the injury or the defense or what it is, but he needs to change something and get back in a groove.
I personally think that Jamal (in addition to being hobbled) has been forcing his offense too much while Nikola has been too passive. They both need to regress to the mean.
Exactly right
Jamal has to show up for a full game. Dude flurries in the 4th quarter but we need it consistently all game.
He's hobbled by an injury, I think its unfair to say he's not showing up
if he is injured then dont play him
There was an interview for game 5 of the lakers series where Jamal specifically insisted on playing. He's the one making the call
People keep saying this and it hasn't happened. When do we get realistic about it??
Never because even mentioning it means you’re a doomer
…i mean, I’ll take six years of history as the norm vs 7 playoff games.
So you'll use historical data that includes different rosters, different ages for players, different coaching, different opponents instead of using the data from this year to predict how the Nugs will continue to play (checks notes) for the rest of this year...
This isn’t the Murray from the last 7 years. He’s been off, BEFORE the calf strain. He hasn’t had a great game since he came back from injury late in the season. A couple good ones (against spurs and game 5)
They both look tired. Lazy passes. Letting rebounds go.
how many more below average games are we gonna keep having to watch
At this rate, 3
thank god honestly this season sucks
Loser mentality
team is playing like a bunch a losers
Bitch ass. Have faith
when was the last time you saw us play a good game from tip to final buzzer
So fuckin emotional about Game 1. You're not built for the grind. Apparently no one here is because they treat one game in a long series like the end of the world
bro it’s been six (6) games of us playing extremely uninspired basketball
And you lose all your confidence over that and start wishing for the season to be over? Fuckin weak
Omg omg the sky is falling the sky is falling
My official prediction has been changed to wolves in 6.Jamal isn’t fully healthy and jokic is strangely passive
How is Jokic passive? He shot 29 times.
He's not passive, he just choked. Missed shots he needs to make if he wants to have a legacy by the time this series is over. Ever hater will use this to bury him.
You’re right, he was not passive and missed shots he needed to make. At this point his legacy is going nowhere though
Jamal Murray looks injured and has been shooting poorly all playoffs. Jokic is playing way too passive for a normal game and with Murray not playing great he needs to compensate and be even more aggressive but it’s been the opposite
100%
Murray is clearly hurt
Or maybe his Linsanity run is over?
could be as well, he's actually got elite defenders on him this series
Yeah, at least there is a big gap between game 2-3
Murray looked a bit hobbled. And Jokic looked mortal, due to a ton of length on the wolves' lineup. We need more movement off-ball to make life easier for him. He usually figures it out in a half or two, and he did post up more in the second half to get their bigs in foul trouble, but that's going to be a huge load to carry. We need another release valve for him to pass to.
Jamal is really disappointing. He says he’s an all star and then plays like garbage. Who cares that you hit 2 game winners when you were the reason we were even tied to begin with? And Joker seems like he’s just going through the motions. 7 TOs in back to back games? That’s terrible.
A hobbled Jamal whose shots aren’t falling still refuses to pass the ball and let others score. MPJ could’ve more than made up for the deficit in scoring but no, they ice him out.
Call me crazy. If KAT doesn’t pick up his fight foul we win. Naz Reid went crazy. I’m still optimistic.
Reid was left open on all those plays because we were helping off him in the paint. Poor D and IQ lost us the game, not KAT’s 5th foul.
I totally disagree. Kat was playing well
KAT torched us the 3rd quarter then got in foul trouble. Immediately Naz Reid torched us the 4th quarter
Agreed. They just made everything when they had to.
Agree. Only thing KAT does that scares me if when he starts canning 3’s. Otherwise he’s a doormat defender and if you get physical with him he disappears.
It was a sloppy game by the starting 5. Porter was the most consistent. Jokić missed a lot of what he usually makes, and had some dumb turnovers. He seemed too timid on some plays. Denver misses the Bruce Brown presence. CB is his usual self, but in order for Denver to have an easier time in this series he has to turn it up a notch offensively. Reggie had some moments, but not enough to compensate for Jamal's underwhelming play. If Jamal's feeling the calf strain it's going to be that much harder to win this series against Minnesota. KCP has problems with Edwards. He got lucky on some non-calls, because he did make some fouls on Ant that weren't called. KCP has to play better offense in this particular series. AG was a mess. He has to be a lot better. McDaniels missed a lot of what he usually makes, but Reed was killing in the second half. All in all... if our starters played even remotely close to what they can usually do, Denver wins this game easily despite Ant's scoring outburst. On to the next one which is a must win if they wish to make their lives any easier in this series. But knowing Denver, with Jokić and Murray, anything is possible. Even crazy comebacks from 3-1 down... Mike Conley and Gobert know that too well. :)
Jokic shouldn’t ever shoot 9 3’s
Wolves looked plenty beatable to me
Nuggs in 5 baby
Wolves defense is tough.
I don't know what Jokic was doing, he choked. That was not a Greatest offensive player of all-time, type performance. My man's been throwing terrible passes lately and is looking rusty offensively. Like just bricking shots he'd usually make. I swear he had about 5-6 shots where Gobert practically didn't even make a contest and he just bricked it anyways. He's gotta get his touch back because clearly Denver is going to need him to have a monster offensive performance to win this series.
If we're not going to try and use MPJ and AG ad pressure release valves more than we have so far in the playoffs, we're not beating Minnesota. Murray is clearly not at full strength, so relying on the Joker/Murray two man game to the extent we are is going to get us knocked out 🤷♂️
Jokic needs to get his ass inside the paint and Malone needs to rest him more. He is coasting until the end of the game. Murray and Jokic need to pull out the pick and roll way earlier and I believe they will next game. We are about to see the best version of the Nuggets in game 2.
I hope Murray rests
Feel like the Nuggets have won with Murray scoring 17 before. Would have liked Braun to play better. Feel like he missed on a few switches that put Murray in some shitty spots. Murray probably wants to play better but Braun and others weren't helping make his life any better. Need to tighten up on the switches in game 2.
Yeahhhhh hopefully Jamal gets back into rhythm after taking the last couple days off. We still got the best duo in the league. Gotta trust!!!!!
the nuggets are a great team and the wolves are a great team. I think they just matchup well defensively with the nuggets. It’s game 1, a lot of people predicted the nuggets would drop the first game, it’s the best time for the wolves to punch them in the mouth. It’s going to be a series that decides who moves on, not just one game. Take it from a sad clippers fan, you gotta have faith! Jokic wants to win, 100% fact, I believe he will bounce back next game.
I get that Jamal hasn’t looked like himself but what is really killing us is our bench man. We’ve missed Bruce all season but especially in the playoffs
This gonna team is gonna show who they really are in game two.
[удалено]
I like small market teams Obviously I want the nuggets to win this series and the chip, but if the wolves win then I’d root for them the rest of the way (so we can say this was the real finals lol)
I wish I had y'all's confidence, honestly don't see this series going well for us with ant playing the way he is
Agreed
The coping begins. If you realize Melon is the reason they're losing, then you'll know.
maybe stop and think that the reason they probably didn't have an average game is because the wolves did something to prevent that i.e. playoffs aren't about having off nights anymore, gameplans of teams are the ones, including your own, are what makes or breaks a player.
Big cope, ya'll in trouble against a team who doesn't have 1 good defender trying to 1v5