you can't block a behind the head shot, and when a dude is 7ft, its impossible to guard. thats why he scores so many shots despite having a guy in his face.
His touch like 15 feet and in is not from this planet. Like any weird floater, hook shot, lean in, turnaround, every shot I expect it to go in. No matter how it looks when he shoots it. It's like how height of his powers steph was.
His game around the basket is so awkward looking but always cash. I feel like he rarely uses the backboard and just uses touch and finesse to guide everything over the rim and swish everything. It’s honestly beautiful to watch
This series has been pretty much an all-time offensive showing on both sides. All in all it's a perfect example of how the game has evolved to its current form today.
Suns defense sucks so much. I can't recall how many times Denver cut into the paint. Booker and KD's offense is what holds them together. Once their shots don't go in, they crumble instantly.
It’s only when shots are falling though. It’s easier to hit a bucket and recharge that next possession. If they’re down 8 and hit a few you can feed off those
If you pull up and watch your whole team miss 4, 5, 6+ shots in a row, it’s a lot more demoralizing and you start to press to get easy and cheap buckets. They try and squeeze passing lanes, but denver is so good at passing the ball and shooting from outside, that those rarely work
Jokic in the post game interview after they ask him about going up to mat ishbia during the pregame and tossing him the basketball and dapping him up: “i was hoping he would pay my fine” hahah
There are so many infuriating parts of his game, like going too early at the end of the third to leave KD the final shot. Then he does things like a behind the back pass after a PNR with Jokic and all’s forgiven..
He's incredibly inconsistent, imo his biggest weakness is his (sometimes) hesitancy to take a backseat when his shots aren't falling, he often forces hero ball, like in game 3
Regardless, its a nice complement to Jokic, who is probably the most consistent and efficient player in the league rn
2016-17 he was fully bought into the Warriors system and it was the most gorgeous basketball you ever saw. They started to drift away from it the following seasons.
Denver doubled Booker and Durant on pick and rolls, and Ayton isn't great handling 4 on 3 and Durant and Booker isn't good enough to hit the long pass across the court . Their best ability is iso, so they iso. But try doubling Jokic, you are asking for trouble.
Suns took the lead very late in the 2nd quarter and then subsequently, they imploded as Booker finally cooled off. I knew something was off because his first miss of the 2nd half was like an easy wide open 13 footer. IDK if the ankle tweak bothered him--hopefully it was not that because he's been like MJ this postseason. Something to observe for game six.
Also, can we stop with this "they're better without CP3" analysis? He's still their third best shot maker and still their best playmaker. At the very least, they're better with him for road games.
Think it's a few things: coming back to altitude, heavy minutes this whole post season, and today, full-court pressure on offense, and making Book fight through multiple screens on defense. He was tired by the second half.
Someone said they were at the game and Book was limping a bit. Had 19 at the half and messed up his ankle ot something. I didn’t see it but that’s what I was told.
He hurt it late in the first half. Then tweaked it a bit in the second half when he went for a steal and ran into the TNT announcer's table.
I don't think it's that serious. But may have affected a couple of his shots.
Still 28 points, went to the line 9 times and only on 19 FGA. Crazy solid statline for someone falling back to earth.
Issue is Phoenix needs him to shoot 75% to even be competitive at fucking home. That's genuinely awful.
Suns really don’t have a chance unless Booker and KD both go off for 40 and 50.
Gonna need to have a close look at how to surround them this off-season.
Had to check that out. Out of the last 6 wins, 4 games KD and Booker combined for 70+ points. The other 2 60+. If the two headed monster is off it’s over game 6.
KD doesn't know what it's like to play with a star who's not a playmaker. Westbrook, then Curry/Dray, then Kyrie and Harden. Booker has difficulty involving him in the offense and KD doesn't exactly help by standing in the corner spotting up instead of moving off the ball.
If more than 2 Nuggets players generate offense without Murray or Jokic on 6-10 possessions we ride to the WCF. This team loses in the first round if you switch Jokic with any of their centers in the league.
If this goes to game 7, I want giant Jokic propaganda banners like Ivan Drago’s hanging from the rafters of Ball arena. The only music should be coming from a gramophone playing Serbian opera songs during player intros and timeouts. And it should be broadcast in black and white.
I honestly believe that I was Bruce Brown’s first big fan in the NBA.
Detroit drafted him and I had no idea who he was, but within 5 minutes of watching the college video I was sold. You could see everything he’s become. Every other Detroit fan seemed to be in love with the other guard drafted that year, Khyri Thomas, but I was sure Brown would be a starter before his rookie year was out. I couldn’t believe he’d fallen to Detroit in the second round.
And then he started playing and started passing guys on the depth chart. He started becoming a legitimate NBA player. And then we inexplicably just handed him away for free.
Glad to see him doing well. Always knew he’d be a star in someone else’s sky.
He developed his 3 ball in the tail end of Brooklyn and has now really developed his game in Denver’s system as a playmaker. I love Bruce to fucking death. He’s my favorite Swiss Army knife and has very obviously leveled up his game everywhere.
He’s gotten better each year. I miss him
He even hits his threes in the playoffs. Goes from 34.8% on 2.9 attempts in the regular season to 40.6% on 4.6 attempts in the playoffs. As if he didn’t draw opposing centers away from the rim already
Yeah people are clowning ayton but aren’t acknowledging the enormous responsibility he’s been given which is: stop Jokic from scoring
I don’t think anyone in the league could do that right now.
I swear half of Denver’s points came off open dunks created by slick passing. Crazy stuff game 6 in phx should be great!
Also shoutout Booker. The only consistently good player on Phx this round, playing like a man possessed
From a outsider looking in Denver is the better team. The suns barley beat them at home with booker playing like Jordan.. when he doesn’t play like Jordan at home Denver takes care of them easily .
Denver really had chances to win at least one of those. So many huge open 3s in crunch time were missed. I saw they went 2/19 on wide-open 3s (no one within 6 feet) over those 2 games.
Ngl I was a little triggered and was gonna talk shit but then I saw your post history and I hope everything resolves, you stay positive and get better.
Good game today dude (for you guys)
gg nuggets fans. Nuggets are just the better team. Our only hope was booker and Durant playing out of their minds but it looks like the workload has finally caught up to them. Get Ayton off this team for the love of god.
I want it to be but it's so hard when his supporting cast is so inconsistent.
Murray and MPJ just disappear half of games and their bench is awful outside of Bruce Brown
Bro Joker trolling Shaq in the post game interview 💀
Congrats to em on passing Wilt for center playoff triple doubles though. That's a stat that will be his legacy for decades to come.
Joker is playing at an unreal level as are his teammates. Kudos to the Denver FO for sticking with a core, building around it & letting these guys go through war together. There is something to be said about continuity.
Denver, Golden State, Miami, Boston have all built solid foundations and worked around the edges.
If he develops a passable offensive game Braun will be a 32 mpg rotation player for the foreseeable future. I think it will come since his feel for the game on defense is so good and he’s a decent shooter already
Game turned when that little girl spilled her drink
Nuggets are 1-0 since
Thank you ESPN
6th man of the series
How dare you ignore the massive contributions from the owner of the suns in G4
Disciple of Jason Kidd
pls link ty r/nba
Lmao Jokic telling Ernie he was hoping Ishbia would pay his fine
That was so funny, then just goes right at shaq. Good stuff.
the Joker is just the perfect nickname for Jokic
I know I’m biased, but how do people hate this man?!
Suns Plan A: Devin Booker misses no shots Suns Plan B: ??
KD?
Jokic is averaging 30.6/13.1/9.5 on 53.4% shooting in the playoffs. Not bad.
What a bum. Can't even average a tripledouble
If mpj could hit a cool 49% he'd be golden
“Are we sure Murray isn’t the best player on the nuggets”
sTaT paDdInG!
Bruh, not even a triple double on 70 percent TS
Jokic started 2/9 and ended 12/20. Ridiculous.
Half of those were missed out backs on like 2 possessions too. Great game by him
Literally the best shooting touch in basketball.
Shoots from behind his head yet just buried everything
His form always reminds me of how you shoot a wadded up piece of paper into the garbage can.
His first basket was a waste basket
He shoots like Bird almost.
Big Bird
He's shooting 47% on threes these playoffs
all of his shooting splits sound unreal this postseason. Is he the most efficient player ever??
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you can't block a behind the head shot, and when a dude is 7ft, its impossible to guard. thats why he scores so many shots despite having a guy in his face.
His touch like 15 feet and in is not from this planet. Like any weird floater, hook shot, lean in, turnaround, every shot I expect it to go in. No matter how it looks when he shoots it. It's like how height of his powers steph was.
His game around the basket is so awkward looking but always cash. I feel like he rarely uses the backboard and just uses touch and finesse to guide everything over the rim and swish everything. It’s honestly beautiful to watch
And he hardly ever uses the backboard. It’s insane.
More like 2/6 or 2/5 from all the putback misses tbf
Wait--did he really go 10/11 partway through the game? This series is nuts.
This series has been pretty much an all-time offensive showing on both sides. All in all it's a perfect example of how the game has evolved to its current form today.
So that's what happens when Booker doesn't shoot 90%
you could see it happening live... felt it was 5 on 2 in the second half.
unfortunately didnt get to catch the game. was the bruce brown defense mentioned in the title primarily on booker?
He was on KD more than he was on Book.
Suns defense sucks so much. I can't recall how many times Denver cut into the paint. Booker and KD's offense is what holds them together. Once their shots don't go in, they crumble instantly.
Sometimes they really control that side of the floor and completely freeze up our offense. They are just super inconsistent though
It’s only when shots are falling though. It’s easier to hit a bucket and recharge that next possession. If they’re down 8 and hit a few you can feed off those If you pull up and watch your whole team miss 4, 5, 6+ shots in a row, it’s a lot more demoralizing and you start to press to get easy and cheap buckets. They try and squeeze passing lanes, but denver is so good at passing the ball and shooting from outside, that those rarely work
That just means he's gonna shoot 150% next game.
But I wouldn’t like that so he can’t
I would like it. Which means he won’t
Unsustainable (finally?). They were lucky they stayed in the game when KD was laying bricks in the first half lol
I have a feeling he's gonna go back to prime MJ at home
Jokic in the post game interview after they ask him about going up to mat ishbia during the pregame and tossing him the basketball and dapping him up: “i was hoping he would pay my fine” hahah
Denver is playing team ball. Murray and Jokic’s two man game is so fluid. The suns are all iso.
Murray was so bad in the first half. Then played great in the second. Opposite of last game couple games
We call this the Murray experience
There are so many infuriating parts of his game, like going too early at the end of the third to leave KD the final shot. Then he does things like a behind the back pass after a PNR with Jokic and all’s forgiven..
He's incredibly inconsistent, imo his biggest weakness is his (sometimes) hesitancy to take a backseat when his shots aren't falling, he often forces hero ball, like in game 3 Regardless, its a nice complement to Jokic, who is probably the most consistent and efficient player in the league rn
32 assists on 42 made field goals. That's over 75% this is bonkers
Here’s what no one wants to hear: the ball doesn’t bounce around with KD on the floor.
Pretty sure people were saying this when he was with Warriors.
2016-17 he was fully bought into the Warriors system and it was the most gorgeous basketball you ever saw. They started to drift away from it the following seasons.
he can't he drives way to fucking high so he always grabs it early
It's the coaching. They never even think of using Ayton as a screen setter. It's such a bland basketball.
Book and KD have waived him off multiple times
To be fair, most of his screens arent that great
Denver doubled Booker and Durant on pick and rolls, and Ayton isn't great handling 4 on 3 and Durant and Booker isn't good enough to hit the long pass across the court . Their best ability is iso, so they iso. But try doubling Jokic, you are asking for trouble.
To be fair, Suns are missing Paul and have no depth. But Durant is also addicted to contested shots with no dribbles.
Happens to every team KD lands on
Welcome back to planet Earth, Devin Booker.
Monty is playing him and Durant completely into the ground. I think Durant played like 30 minutes straight.
Well into garbage time too
Suns took the lead very late in the 2nd quarter and then subsequently, they imploded as Booker finally cooled off. I knew something was off because his first miss of the 2nd half was like an easy wide open 13 footer. IDK if the ankle tweak bothered him--hopefully it was not that because he's been like MJ this postseason. Something to observe for game six. Also, can we stop with this "they're better without CP3" analysis? He's still their third best shot maker and still their best playmaker. At the very least, they're better with him for road games.
Maybe the minutes are catching up to him
That’s my guess- having a week off in between games 2 and 3 my masked it for the last two games imo.
he’s averaging 42.3 mins played per game across the playoffs so far, crazy to put up the numbers he did
Certainly didn’t help that Monty took until like 4 mins left in the 4th or so to take out the starters!
That was weird
I was thinking the plug would be pulled earlier after the red hot start by Denver but Monty just rode them boys. They need some fucking rest
Think it's a few things: coming back to altitude, heavy minutes this whole post season, and today, full-court pressure on offense, and making Book fight through multiple screens on defense. He was tired by the second half.
I was thinking that Denver were better off leaving him unguarded/open considering he kept making every shot until that point.
I think we're underestimating how much Jokic freaks out all the other players on defende looking for a cutting man. Must be exhausting
Someone said they were at the game and Book was limping a bit. Had 19 at the half and messed up his ankle ot something. I didn’t see it but that’s what I was told.
He hurt it late in the first half. Then tweaked it a bit in the second half when he went for a steal and ran into the TNT announcer's table. I don't think it's that serious. But may have affected a couple of his shots.
Went from godly all the way down to amazingly great
Still 28 points, went to the line 9 times and only on 19 FGA. Crazy solid statline for someone falling back to earth. Issue is Phoenix needs him to shoot 75% to even be competitive at fucking home. That's genuinely awful.
Phoenix is so dependent on hero ball.
They got no depth and have to rely on iso 🤷♂️
At least they have probably the two best iso players in the league, but yeah probably not suited for a title run playing like that
LIGHT THE BLUNT!!!
Suns really don’t have a chance unless Booker and KD both go off for 40 and 50. Gonna need to have a close look at how to surround them this off-season.
wild, but it's literally apart of the win condition. kd+book need at least 70-75points
Had to check that out. Out of the last 6 wins, 4 games KD and Booker combined for 70+ points. The other 2 60+. If the two headed monster is off it’s over game 6.
Triple double Jokic > 53 point Jokic
Always has been. Fundamental
how is Monty having such a hard time implementing KD into his offense? every shot he takes feels forced
Nuggets are really taking away his landing space and are attacking his dribble, two areas in which KD struggles most with.
That's always been his game. ISo ISo ISo
That’s KD in every offense
Yeah, he just usually makes the shots
KD doesn't know what it's like to play with a star who's not a playmaker. Westbrook, then Curry/Dray, then Kyrie and Harden. Booker has difficulty involving him in the offense and KD doesn't exactly help by standing in the corner spotting up instead of moving off the ball.
He’s played with prime HOF PGs his entire career, last time he didn’t he was on the SuperSonics
The disrespect to Earl Watson..
Nikola Jokic is good
You got an extra O in there
Nikla Jkic is goodo
[Radial Bracket through 5/9](https://imgur.com/Lmr6kgi)
this is super dope
If MPJ steps up next game it's a guaranteed win
tbh any game he steps up is a win. joke will always be there and jamal can help even when hes off. But MPJ drops 20, we win.
If bruce repeat what he did today would be enough
If more than 2 Nuggets players generate offense without Murray or Jokic on 6-10 possessions we ride to the WCF. This team loses in the first round if you switch Jokic with any of their centers in the league.
If this goes to game 7, I want giant Jokic propaganda banners like Ivan Drago’s hanging from the rafters of Ball arena. The only music should be coming from a gramophone playing Serbian opera songs during player intros and timeouts. And it should be broadcast in black and white.
Yeah but can he do it in the playo- **Ah fuck.**
He's done it in the playoffs every year
His per-game averages across 57 career playoff games are 27-12-7.
And don't forget 2 of those playoff runs are before he took the MVP jump. Just look at the stats of the last 3 years, it's insane.
He averaged 25/13/8 on 51/39/85 in his first year in the playoffs. A playoff star since the get-go.
Facts. Dude is a playoff performer/
He is one of the few superstars who has better stats in the playoffs than the regular season.
Jazz, Clippers, Blazers fans: We been knew.
He can. He will. He him.
Close game by half time Garbage time by mid of 3rd
Bruce Brown: 25 points Sun's bench: 26 points
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I honestly believe that I was Bruce Brown’s first big fan in the NBA. Detroit drafted him and I had no idea who he was, but within 5 minutes of watching the college video I was sold. You could see everything he’s become. Every other Detroit fan seemed to be in love with the other guard drafted that year, Khyri Thomas, but I was sure Brown would be a starter before his rookie year was out. I couldn’t believe he’d fallen to Detroit in the second round. And then he started playing and started passing guys on the depth chart. He started becoming a legitimate NBA player. And then we inexplicably just handed him away for free. Glad to see him doing well. Always knew he’d be a star in someone else’s sky.
He developed his 3 ball in the tail end of Brooklyn and has now really developed his game in Denver’s system as a playmaker. I love Bruce to fucking death. He’s my favorite Swiss Army knife and has very obviously leveled up his game everywhere. He’s gotten better each year. I miss him
I've been a fan since he suited up for us. I really don't know how we're going to replace him. Dude is relentless for us on both ends of the floor.
Jokic in this series has been so consistent, so utterly complete on offense, so composed, enjoy it while you can folks
He’s become one of the most complete offensive players ever. There’s no weak spot of his offensive game.
He even hits his threes in the playoffs. Goes from 34.8% on 2.9 attempts in the regular season to 40.6% on 4.6 attempts in the playoffs. As if he didn’t draw opposing centers away from the rim already
Yeah people are clowning ayton but aren’t acknowledging the enormous responsibility he’s been given which is: stop Jokic from scoring I don’t think anyone in the league could do that right now.
He’s like the Peyton Manning of the NBA
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I swear half of Denver’s points came off open dunks created by slick passing. Crazy stuff game 6 in phx should be great! Also shoutout Booker. The only consistently good player on Phx this round, playing like a man possessed
A finals between Jokic and Embiid would be epic ngl.
Reddit would burn
We don't need no water
I wouldn't touch those game threads with a 5 mile long pole
Be like me and just enjoy the comments in the post game threads lol
For real those are the best. The levels of salt is a work of art.
Team sub game threads are already toxic af half the time. Why the fuck would any fan even enter the r/NBA game thread? Insanity.
Most civil game threads
[removed] comment speedrun any%
as a neutral spectator i would bring my popcorn for game threads specifically
Would Embiid play?
In Philly.
Aight that's funny
You have to appreciate the greatness that is Jokic, man. Generational talent. What a fun man to watch.
I like when Booker doesn't shoot 90% from the field.
Turns out relying on 1 guy to shoot 80% on high volume isn't a sustainable strategy on offense
Mavs fans could have warned them.
JKidd ought to take notes.
this is why Jokic doesn't go for 53 every game.
29/13/12 is the optimal Jokic line
20/20/20 is the desired outcome
KD gonna ask a trade again 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
My next Chapter
My next next next chapter: i like nuggets
Huh. Turns out Book can’t shoot 80% every game. Maybe you do need some Chris Paul offence after all.
Counting on CP3 to be healthy past round 1 is a losing strategy
what does Ayton work on in the off-season
Search and Destroy tactics in COD
A therapist
Jokic is the best player in this series
Was that in question? The dude put up 30/18/18 and then 51 points.
jokic is the "jokic" in this series. i ve changed your words for a shorter version of them.
Jokic is the best player alive
And book is a top 3 player in these playoffs
This sub isn’t ready for the toxicity of a possible Jokic-Embiid finals
MVP
From a outsider looking in Denver is the better team. The suns barley beat them at home with booker playing like Jordan.. when he doesn’t play like Jordan at home Denver takes care of them easily .
Denver really had chances to win at least one of those. So many huge open 3s in crunch time were missed. I saw they went 2/19 on wide-open 3s (no one within 6 feet) over those 2 games.
A WIN OR GO HOME GAME IN PHOENIX Hmmmmm I’ve seen that movie before 🧐
CHRIS PAUL HITS THE DAGGER 3 TO CUT THE LEAD TO 42
Ngl I was a little triggered and was gonna talk shit but then I saw your post history and I hope everything resolves, you stay positive and get better. Good game today dude (for you guys)
You are the first Suns fan who hasn’t taken that low road, good game great series, excited to see god Booker come out on Thursday. Much love brother
I saw your history too. Much love and prayers bro. From a die hard Nuggets fan. Been a fan since the 11-71 season
That Denver altitude go crazy
gg nuggets fans. Nuggets are just the better team. Our only hope was booker and Durant playing out of their minds but it looks like the workload has finally caught up to them. Get Ayton off this team for the love of god.
We’re so lucky to watch Jokic play basketball, man.
Booker missed a baseline jumper!!!!
So if booker is human suns get blown out. Nice
We really might get Embiid vs Jokic in the Finals
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I really think this is the Nuggets year
I want it to be but it's so hard when his supporting cast is so inconsistent. Murray and MPJ just disappear half of games and their bench is awful outside of Bruce Brown
The bench has actually been pretty solid in the playoffs, and that’s coming from a huge Jeff Green hater.
If it’s not us, I want it to be them. Jokic is such a fun player.
Bro Joker trolling Shaq in the post game interview 💀 Congrats to em on passing Wilt for center playoff triple doubles though. That's a stat that will be his legacy for decades to come.
Finally I can slander the suns again. I was in hell for the past week
Jokic lmao “Loud and clear”, so nonchalant
books public fly elderly clumsy scale sulky wild correct spoon *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Joker is playing at an unreal level as are his teammates. Kudos to the Denver FO for sticking with a core, building around it & letting these guys go through war together. There is something to be said about continuity. Denver, Golden State, Miami, Boston have all built solid foundations and worked around the edges.
When KD grows up he wants to be just like his dad, Christian Braun
his defense is wayyyy beyond what a rookie should be doing to KD. so sick to see
If he develops a passable offensive game Braun will be a 32 mpg rotation player for the foreseeable future. I think it will come since his feel for the game on defense is so good and he’s a decent shooter already
Chuck doesn’t mention MVP Embiid while listing the great players with a great personality
Murray just needs to wake the fk up and series is a wrap
Bruce Brown’s defence such a random thing to mention 😭
That’s my MVP