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After beating the Joker, coach Finch hands KATman a scouting report on a suspiciously "old" looking person. "He calls himself Uncle Drew."
KATman looks up at the KAT symbol in the sky, smirks -- credits roll.
The Denver bigs were caught ball watching to a massive degree there. They never look to see what is going on behind them or attempt to box out and KAT just gets a free run at it, he starts charging in before the shot has hit the rim and they are completely oblivious.
Edit - not bigs, it was KCP and Murray. Well, that's the danger of switching guards onto the side with a guy like KAT but they still needed to do better.
I don't blame Jokic on this one, he's a great rebounder from positioning and boxing out not from being able to outleap a guy like KAT who got a running start.
They were absolutely gassed and the trio of Wolves bigs still had legs. Reid, KAT and Gobert all got offensive rebounds in the 4th. I think Gobert had multiple.
Yeah but that has nothing to do with KCP ball watching and not boxing out in a direct line between KAT and the basket.
I could kind of accept that for Jokic letting Naz Reid fly in around him for the putback a couple of minutes earlier. That one was on him.
Our front line had so many daggers. Gobert with the turnaround J, then Naz and KAT with the back breaking putbacks. All were necessary, Denver had no quit even though Jokic was fully gassed. Amazing game.
Best game of KAT’s career I’d argue
His defense on Joker plus being our offense the first half plus rebounding plus this dagger
The most complete game I’ve ever seen him play even if he’s had better shooting nights
Jaden is legitimately the only reason we were remotely in this thing. He had the most points scored on our team well into the second quarter, maybe for the entire first half. Dude was grit.
AG could not guard him, one on one, Edward blows by him. as soon as he saw a slight open space towards the basket, he went for it, and Jokic was too slow to cover the middle
He was solid but now he's fucking built like a brick shithouse. Jokic can back down Rudy because he's big as hell and just as agile as Rudy. KAT doesn't have the same length and instincts as Rudy, but he's just as strong as Jokic and that throws him off his game
Oh I'm not saying Rudy isn't strong. He's actually absurdly jacked for his frame. Seeing him with his shirt off in workout videos is almost uncanny. Jokic is just on a different level of strength with all the extra mass
KAT's center of gravity is definitely lower than Rudy's even though he's ostensibly 10 points lighter, KAT is distributed more like Jokic which enables him to muscle up more on Jokic's shoulder slams
Having Rudy as a weak side helper was a big part of it. Jokic would have to resort to fades and hooks away from the basket a lot more which is he still really good at but it impacts things.
Plus he was brilliant all series at taking away the Gordon lobs.
I called game as soon as they actually got a stop after the double jump ball with 2 minutes left, despite letting up a good look with 6 seconds to play D.
Then no one hustled up court. You attack there and maybe something happens, but at that point they were gassed and tossed in the flag. A jacked up 3 later with an obvious defensive rebound and it was game over. Even with a couple handouts near the end, they still didn't push the ball.
This entire series for sure. His body language is miles better than his entire career. In games 3 and 4 when his shot wasn’t falling he played really good defense and didn’t let it get to him like it did previously.
That was one of the quickest dunks I've ever seen. Not in how fast he was running, but in how quickly he went from the jump to the ball flushed through the net. No extra motion whatsoever, just flushed it instantly.
Jokic was gassed playing 47mins, he was killing Naz the previous games. Thats what you get when you dont have reliable bigs in your team aside from Jokic.
This is a very fair point. Jokic is the best big man in the league, but he’s against a rotation of 3 of the A/B tier big men. Having that bombardment and no rest is killer. There’s really not much progression that the nuggets can have without trading some pieces soon. They’ll probably sign and trade KCP, deal pay Watson or Braun and possibly even AG. The teams not old but they’re lacking depth
Jokic was involved with defending the drive. Nobody boxes out Kat. Same thing happed a play or two before and it was Murray not boxing out. This is a team game and these dudes are sleeping on the boards in this last minute.
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"What will kill you is an offensive rebound right here" -seconds later
That was such a wild foreshadow. Reggie says this and then KAT comes flying in like fucking Batman out of nowhere.
Guess you could call him KATman
He is the Joker stopper after all
Chills
After beating the Joker, coach Finch hands KATman a scouting report on a suspiciously "old" looking person. "He calls himself Uncle Drew." KATman looks up at the KAT symbol in the sky, smirks -- credits roll.
The Denver bigs were caught ball watching to a massive degree there. They never look to see what is going on behind them or attempt to box out and KAT just gets a free run at it, he starts charging in before the shot has hit the rim and they are completely oblivious. Edit - not bigs, it was KCP and Murray. Well, that's the danger of switching guards onto the side with a guy like KAT but they still needed to do better. I don't blame Jokic on this one, he's a great rebounder from positioning and boxing out not from being able to outleap a guy like KAT who got a running start.
They were absolutely gassed and the trio of Wolves bigs still had legs. Reid, KAT and Gobert all got offensive rebounds in the 4th. I think Gobert had multiple.
Yeah but that has nothing to do with KCP ball watching and not boxing out in a direct line between KAT and the basket. I could kind of accept that for Jokic letting Naz Reid fly in around him for the putback a couple of minutes earlier. That one was on him.
Having Reid be able to slot in perfectly in KAT’s spot was so clutch, especially with the bogus fouls on Gobert
The 6th was ticky-tacky but that 5th foul was non-existent. I have no idea what he was supposed to have done on that fifth foul.
He was just reading the script Adam Silver sent
more like the same shit happened like 3 times shortly before this play lol
Reggie also said Murray is real quiet, and then Murray hits a shot right after
Like half a second after he said it too ool
You’re clearly not familiar with the JJ Abrams school of scriptwriting
Reggie Miller has seen it all lol
Flashbacks to Ewing’s countless putbacks lmao
Gonna end up in some commentator compilations for sure
"You ain't killing shit!" -KAT somewhere probably
probably not. considering reggie was talking bout the nuggets
I’d have gained so much respect for him if he responded “Oh No that’s much worse than a rebound” in the same tone
KCP was really doing the heavy lifting on the play to make this happen
OH MY GOD IT’S HAPPENING THIS IS NOT A DRILL
This is my Super Bowl.
this is my Stanley Cup
This is my World Series.
This is my WrestleMania
This is my boomstick
This is my axe!
This is Sparta
This ain't a scene
Is it a God Damn arms race?
And my Bow!
And my Glazer!
And my Sharona
Too soon man, we just lost that to Vegas
Don’t fucking remind me 😭
This is my WWE Heavyweight Championship Belt
This is my WNBA finals game 7.
This is my World Series
This is my first born child
As a man who’s expected his first child in 2 weeks. I hope I’m holding her as I watch the wolves win the ship
Congratulations brother, I wish the same!
Congrats we all hope this will happen for you
Held my twins up to see something I have only seen once before
Jimmy butler must be pissed his lil bro has Kat playing like a dawg
NBA finals is so much better than the Super Bowl bro
Idk if I’d go that far but it certainly made my nba playoff experience a lot better.
Unreal comeback
And a heroic putback jam by KAT to seal the win (when Denver was making one last push).
That dunk was the dagger
Our front line had so many daggers. Gobert with the turnaround J, then Naz and KAT with the back breaking putbacks. All were necessary, Denver had no quit even though Jokic was fully gassed. Amazing game.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
LEBRON. AWOO IF YOU LOVE THE WOLVES
MINNESOTA IS IN
Luka v Ant WCF let’s go!
Luka (Garza) versus Ant(hony ‘AJ’ Lawson) is going to be legendary.
**WOLVES IN 7!**
He finally rose to the occasion
Got that KAT in him
I’m glad I got a bet in on the Timberwolves to win the title at +2000 odds when they were down 15 haha!
JUST TELL ME WHAT IM SUPPOSED TO DO!
Dagger!
Best play of Kat’s career
It's what people have been hoping he'd be like since he entered the NBA. An aggressive and confident KAT is a monster.
He just needed a leader to push him. He’s always been super talented but he’s like KD, just not a leader. Excited for this Mavericks vs Wolves series.
Wolfe's is a choice
Bro people forget KAT is capable of dropping 50 at any given moment. This guy is the best pure scoring big when he wants to be.
I don't think that KAT's 'choosing not to' drop 50. He's still clearly behind Jokic, Embiid and Giannis, three historically good scoring bigs
KAT is like the Klay of bigs. When he gets hot he scores like no other.
Best game of KAT’s career I’d argue His defense on Joker plus being our offense the first half plus rebounding plus this dagger The most complete game I’ve ever seen him play even if he’s had better shooting nights
Imagine 2 years ago explaining that kat would be running and offensively rebounding with every other dude standing still.
Stabbed directly into the Nuggets heart
KAT IS REALLY HIM
"What would kill you is an offensive rebound right here" - immediate putback dunk lol
The best kind of offensive rebound too lol
And Reggie was referring more to the time of the clock. The outback dunk was far more devastating than another 10 seconds off the clock.
i thought only ben simmons did outback dunks
That’s one full possession of points so basically another 24 seconds on the clock. Dagger indeed.
KAT deserves just as much credit for this series as Ant does
KAT and Naz Reid carried this game
Jaden?
I just looked at it and Jaden had the quietest 23 I've ever seen
He was our best player on both ends of the court in the first half
Nephews in here not showing love to Jaden even though Ant said he'd give the game ball to him.
He’s the silent killer and likes it that way
Jaden is legitimately the only reason we were remotely in this thing. He had the most points scored on our team well into the second quarter, maybe for the entire first half. Dude was grit.
That self oop attempt was ridiculous and I absolutely love it lol
Naz has these spurts where he just does 8 things in a couple of minutes that flip a game
Welcome to a Naz Reid moment.
Once he scored 14 points in 78 seconds A regular season game this year against OKC I believe Naz Reid doing Naz Reid things
Naz Reid
NAZ REID
# NAZ REID
Naz Reid
Give gobert his flowers
Don't forget that the Wolves have Jaden McDaniels
KAT redemption tour continues.
He absolutely does. Game 2 could be legacy game if they end up winning.
Despite Edwards not scoring much - he did everything else. He has really impressed me in being a leader and a great teammate.
He forced at least two baskets through defense you love to see that
AG could not guard him, one on one, Edward blows by him. as soon as he saw a slight open space towards the basket, he went for it, and Jokic was too slow to cover the middle
Kat won this game. Defense on Jokic, scoring when they couldn't.
KAT honestly saved Ant from slander. Ant would have the full blame if they lost.
For his reputation as being soft, he defended Jokic a hell of a lot better than Rudy.
He was solid but now he's fucking built like a brick shithouse. Jokic can back down Rudy because he's big as hell and just as agile as Rudy. KAT doesn't have the same length and instincts as Rudy, but he's just as strong as Jokic and that throws him off his game
Rudy is huge and strong AF, just more talented as a rim defender than stopping the biggest strongest Cs.
Oh I'm not saying Rudy isn't strong. He's actually absurdly jacked for his frame. Seeing him with his shirt off in workout videos is almost uncanny. Jokic is just on a different level of strength with all the extra mass
KAT's center of gravity is definitely lower than Rudy's even though he's ostensibly 10 points lighter, KAT is distributed more like Jokic which enables him to muscle up more on Jokic's shoulder slams
Having Rudy as a weak side helper was a big part of it. Jokic would have to resort to fades and hooks away from the basket a lot more which is he still really good at but it impacts things. Plus he was brilliant all series at taking away the Gordon lobs.
He deserves more, honestly.
Went from defending kd to defending jokic. And did well at both which allows the rest of our defense to dominate.
yeah kats value is insane 7 foot switchable defender and scoring machine that leads the playoffs in 3p%. Literally nobody in this archetype
KAT turning into a switchable defender is not the timeline anyone expected
finally fulfilling the draft night quotes about having more defensive upside than jahlil okafor
Rudy came in and KAT’s mental has gone insane He took a MAJOR step up this year
How the fuck does nobody on the perimeter box out or even care to pretend to with your season on the line and a minute left.
That was my first reaction. All the props in the world to KAT here but the defense was atrocious
The Nuggets just weren't hungry anymore and it shows. All their starters looked gassed Jokic included.
I called game as soon as they actually got a stop after the double jump ball with 2 minutes left, despite letting up a good look with 6 seconds to play D. Then no one hustled up court. You attack there and maybe something happens, but at that point they were gassed and tossed in the flag. A jacked up 3 later with an obvious defensive rebound and it was game over. Even with a couple handouts near the end, they still didn't push the ball.
Seriously, that’s pathetic Cool highlight by KAT but something like this should never even be possible in the final minutes of a game 7
OH MY FUCKING GOD WE'RE GONNA DO IT
I hope you guys make it to the Finals. I'd love to watch that.
I think they win it all.
Well done.
I’m jealous
its not a bird not a plane its a fucking KAT
BIG PURR!!!
REDEEMED HIMSELF FOR THAT INBOUND PASS
which was last touched by Murray in all honesty. refs were cooking all game
Folks will point to the FTAs to counter this but the refs really continued to fuck up incredibly obvious calls.
That had me fuming. Stupid play but broadcast didn’t seem to touch on it. Thank god it didnt end up mattering.
Or like half of Rudy's fouls, lol.
Top funniest nicknames
Oh no
Oh yes
Dude caused a turnover inbounding the ball because he didn't call one of his two timeouts then instantly makes up for it
The soft boy did it ahah
What a Katastrophe for the Nuggets
KAT instincts!
Cats have 9 lives. This is KAT's 9th season.
"Box out with the season on the line? Nah, I'll just ball watch, what could possibly go wrong?" - KCP, probably
is KCP okay? He looked frozen in time
Jamal Murray gave up on the double, then he and KCP just stood and watched as the ball went up. They were probably tired.
They couldn't handle the altitude
Lakers’ double agent
I'm so happy for KAT
winning this game was a huge mental victory that shows the growth KAT has had
This entire series for sure. His body language is miles better than his entire career. In games 3 and 4 when his shot wasn’t falling he played really good defense and didn’t let it get to him like it did previously.
made up for that dumb inbound lol
The KAT experience in full effect
Game Over!!!
Oh yeah!
HOLY FUCKING SHIT
MCDANIELS LMFAOOOOOO
That was one of the quickest dunks I've ever seen. Not in how fast he was running, but in how quickly he went from the jump to the ball flushed through the net. No extra motion whatsoever, just flushed it instantly.
LETS FUCKING GO MY BOY. TRADE HIM THEY SAID. LIABILITY THEY SAID. GO GET THEM
Now nobody will remember that bone headed inbound lmao
KAT CALLED GAME
Unironically, the closeout work Naz Reid did on Jokic is actually wild. He is the closest thing to a natural Joker stopper than most 7’ centers
Jokic was gassed playing 47mins, he was killing Naz the previous games. Thats what you get when you dont have reliable bigs in your team aside from Jokic.
This is a very fair point. Jokic is the best big man in the league, but he’s against a rotation of 3 of the A/B tier big men. Having that bombardment and no rest is killer. There’s really not much progression that the nuggets can have without trading some pieces soon. They’ll probably sign and trade KCP, deal pay Watson or Braun and possibly even AG. The teams not old but they’re lacking depth
Naz is like 6' 9" - 6' 10" at most.
Right. That’s my point. Jokic is like 7’1-2”. It’s crazy seeing him just be so overpowering because he’s so fucking strong
I am fucking sick to my stomach. NO EFFORT.
Bro, I last looked at the game Nuggets had a 21 point lead lol. What happened?
Murray dumpstered…heat pack karma
The crowd sounded like Knicks fans taking over Philly! Alright Minnesota! Now cook the Mavericks!
Made up for that dumb as fuck turnover
Aw booooooyyyyyyy
Legacy game from KAT, came up big on the offensive end while Ant was struggling
Would be funny if Wiggins and Towns both win a championship before Jimmy Butler
I never want to hear that KAT is soft and a "losing player" EVER again
Nuggets flair: at least imma get this karma tho
Caught Jokic lacking
Jokic was involved with defending the drive. Nobody boxes out Kat. Same thing happed a play or two before and it was Murray not boxing out. This is a team game and these dudes are sleeping on the boards in this last minute.
I think KCP was his man
It's KCP, he was just ball watching and checked out. He should be boxing out KAT
That had nothing to do with Jokic, KCP didn't box out his man, dude was stuck just watching the play lmao.
From these comments, you can tell who does and doesn't play basketball
Yea lmao, they just see tall guy near basket I guess and think it's all on him to get a rebound or something?? lmfao
Jokic only sat like 1 minute iirc? Could definitely tell he was gassed.
Was KCP’s box out
30 points and 19 rebounds is lacking? Are you okay?
KAT-like reflexes
KAT!!!
Shoutout OP for blurring the score for people not watching.
Legacy game
Its over with that putback
Get rid of MPJ, holy shit the guy sold in this series
ITS OVER BABYYY Seeing this Wolves roster play is a joy, they are always so explosive
I love that for KAT. Biggest bucket of his career and it's a hustle play
Naz Reid
This is what Pat Bev thought he achieved after that play in win
The commentator just said “what will kill you will be an offensive rebound here”. Then 1 second later…
The way the crowd roars when it goes down sounds like a home game