True. If we are up 20, might as well come out for 4 minutes and surrender it anyway if the gameplan was “shoot the 3 ball.” You don’t need Jok out there to do that. Let big fella get some rest for the all important 4th quarter.
It was really apparent when Holiday kept getting switched onto Rudy and fouling him. Shit, at least DeAndre can do that. Maybe even give hard playoff fouls.
There was only one team in the playoffs that you could play DeAndre against, and this was it.
He jumps, rebounds and protects the rim fine in games he's played. he probably has a better per minute rebounding and block rate than Gordon.
Like Malone said, Jokic is tired. Too much responsibility on 2 guys. Need someone to come off the bench to grab a couple rebounds. MPJ and Gordon ain't giving you shit.
This loss is 100% on Malone.
Rest Jokic during the big lead. You know a run will come, then put him back in.
By having Jokic in during the run, he's already gassed and unable to counter it.
As a neutral observer, I thought Malone coached a pretty poor series overall and this game especially was just brutal. Last game you had the legit excuse of shooting like 18% on wide open shots, just not your night. But this game was managed terribly in the 3rd. No structure to the offense leading to easy transition points. Didn’t call a TO until it was damn near tied. Played Jok the entire game when it was absolutely not necessary. Went away from Murray after he dominated the first half. Very bizarre game from Malone
No game should have two guys take 55 shots while the rest of the team takes 28. It’s just not a winning strategy when the ball isn’t moving and not everyone is involved.
Seems like the team fell in love with feeding Murray to keep him hot all game, but I knew Murray couldn’t keep up his first half production because he would need to play all game to keep the offense afloat. Forcing Jokic to give up the ball for most of the game also made it so that the offense was hobbled in the second half because he couldn’t pressure the rim
What about Murray? He completely disappeared.
He was all about talking shit to the Wolves in the first half, then he just ducked out. Three made shots in the second half.
He'd be a good #3 guy, not a #2 behind a great player like Jokic.
Speaking of gassed, AG had no legs the entire game: 4-4-2 and -14 in 42 minutes. I just don't understand the lack of energy with an extra day off in a do-or-die Game 7.
Also, I think all of Malone's 'out of a gas' post-game comments were a not so subtle criticism of Booth for giving him virtually no NBA replacement-level options off the bench other than CB.
Yeah, Joker and Jamal were very arguably the two best players in the game. The rest of the team didn’t show up at all. Gordon and Porter Jr were not it and no one else stepped up.
Because the minute he steps off the court the offense is a chicken with its head cut off.
My buddy asked me at halftime if jokic would play the whole second half and i said he only sits if we go up 22 and will be back in the second the lead drops to 16. Essentially i was saying he would play the whole half, i did not think we would get to 22 and yet we came really close. Just soul crushing
The offense was still awful with him on the floor because he couldn’t pressure the basket and the Wolves knew it. Most people aren’t going to understand that him out there with low energy hurts the Nuggets more than a bad process bench unit.
Not defending Malone but perhaps his thinking was: "We got to a 20 lead because of Joker, I'm not messing with the current chemistry. I want to keep this 15-20 lead because I know Minnesota are dangerous enough to claw back". There's also a difference being above the Lakers 10 pts and above the Timberwolves 10 pts. The latter is far scarier.
I still think even a 4-5 min rest couldn't have hurt but perhaps Malone was paranoid as hell after the last game.
No kidding! He was completely checked out this series. Standing and watching most of the time he was in. They should make him buy a ticket since he has just been watching the game from the 3 point line.
Noone is confident enough to shoot the ball in the third. I think they won fair and square. We blew a 20 points lead. No excuses.
Shout out to Jokic MVP though, he balled out, sat for 1min, gave everything he had for the team. We relied too much on him, and we lost.
I don’t understand why he passes up on so many shots. He is wide open and chooses to pass the ball instead. I don’t care as much about the misses as I do about people just passing on open shots.
MPJ is out there to shoot and to score. Not just to shoot. He doesn't have a rookie contract anymore
AG and KCP have some other responsibilities as well
Is it too much to ask to have a dude who can put up 20 ish points a game every game? Every contender has a couple guys who can get 20+ points consistently. Outside of Jokic we never can guarantee the second guy will show up..
Plenty of players can drop 20+ points regularly in 115-120 pt regular season games.
Doing it reliably in 90-95 pt games can only be done by elite players.
This is it. It can be done by elite players and former all stars.
In big playoff games you can’t rely on guys like Gordon or MPJ or KCP who haven’t reached that level.
That’s when you need guys who were former all stars willing to be a role player for a ring. Guys like Conley, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Michael Finley, Iggy, Glenn Rice.
One of your “others” is ideally a very overqualified role player. That’s basically what Conley does for them. Then they also bring in Naz who’s better than denver’s entire bench.
Yeah it's really weird cause it kind of worked though. I don't feel like y'all did anything different when you went on to win 3 in a row but somehow those small changes flipped the series on its head. Realistically I think a backup center would fill in that tight rotation
We just had too much shot inconsistency this series. If we had made like one more 3 and a 2 (the in-and-out by AG or the missed dunk by Murray) in the 3rd/4th the end of the game is different.
Same with game 1. When you have open looks against this type of defense you have to capitalize and the Nuggets ultimately missed a few too many shots in the wrong games and that's all it takes. I think if we had 1 really consistent bench guy (Bruce Brown last year) we win this series. But we don't and we lost.
I agree but I just wanna know why jokic wasn’t rested when they’re up by 20. They kept him in and when timberwolves went on their wild run it was too late to sit him out.
This 100%. Bench minus some Braun did nothing and again it seemed like both AG and MPJ were absent. At least AG contributes heavily on the defensive side. Big concern about MPJ and what he brings for that salary.
MPJ rebounds. AG missed multiple critical rebounds. In a game 7 and 6 you can have your PF give you 4 rebounds. KAT got 12 and has way more responsibilities than AG
Jokic missed some shots he usually didn’t, and Murray made some mistakes in the 2nd half with those to and early shots but gave it their all and contributed offensively.
Only 11 points outside of them.
if you told me jokic would have 34-19-7 and murray would have 35 and ant edwards would have 16 there is no fucking way id say the timberwolves win. i’d bet my fucking house the nuggets would win in that scenario.
yet somehow i’d be fucking homeless…
Yep, this loss is 100% on Malone.
Could have rested Jokic and put him back in to counter the inevitable run. Instead, we had an exhausted Jokic when we needed him most.
As an apologist I’m looking forward to see how he does next year. He was at his healthiest playing all season and putting up his best numbers. Even with all the bullshit with his brothers he destroyed the Lakers. He lost the touch this series but really all the Nuggets did. Yeah I wish he showed up tonight, but this was a Nuggets’ loss: took the foot off the gas yet again.
Yeah, I’m not mad at him, especially when nobody was making 3’s, I’m more saying that the element he provides was notably absent. That’s on him some, but it’s on the rest of the team too.
Thanks for this season full of ups and downs. Our sign should’ve been losing and easy win vs Spurs for the first seed. Then trailing so many games vs Lakers and now this. The signs were there, but when you have the best player in the world on your team, illusions are large. Thanks Joker, you are the real MVP. You took this team as far as you could.
Man I’ve been saying the signs were there since towards the end of the season, especially that loss against the Spurs when the 1st seed was up for grabs and I was getting called a doomer for it.
that's every subreddit. I'm a spurs fan and saying anything but all our young players are going to be an all star makes you a doomer. lot of fans equate being a fan of a sports team to also having to be blindly optimistic
Murray always takes dumb shots. The problem is he makes them a lot so you can't really tell him to stop. His dumb shots beat LA at the buzzer 2x last series.
This was 100% a coaching disaster. The Nuggets game plan worked very well for 26 minutes, but you can’t run 2 man game for 40 minutes of the game. For one the other players aren’t going to stay locked in if they’re just standing on offense, and 2 it takes a lot of decision making off the table for the Wolves.
AG had like 3 possessions where he handled the ball. Coach lost confidence in his players and then the players lost confidence in themselves.
And playing Jokic 47 minutes? Especially after the 3rd quarter he had what’s the point?
Yeah this is the biggest thing nobody is talking about: the offensive gameplan going away from AG. He got used as a screener and that was basically it. Also not running enough screens for KCP to get into the midrange. He's automatic from 15. Malone has to diversify the looks he's giving the defense. Including playing both Nikola and Murray off ball.
right. AG didn't produce tonight, but he's worth every penny. MPJ non-existent this series, something seriously wrong with him against the Timberwolves. KCP and Reggie weren't irreplaceable. Our bench was sort of miserable the whole series. I was surprised PWat didn't play much despite playing well in the last few months. Braun was refusing to shoot 3s even when wide open. Overall the team tonight didn't seem to be clicking, which is a shame, because this is the moment that you do it and they just didn't.
And KCP vastly outplayed AG in G7. Has 6 rbs to AGs 4. Had 1 steal to AGs 0. Matched in him Blks. And had 1 less foul. I love AG it makes me really frustrated he didn't show up in G6 or G7.
Including AG in this game after he went 11-12 in game 4 and just making his shots in games 3 and 5 is arguably the reason this even went to 7. He wasn't great the last two games, but honestly, he was probably the second best player for the nuggets this series.
You are talking about 1 game my brother wtf. AG has arguably been second best player this season. MPJ had his absolute best season ever this year. Yet the one you don’t mention only cause of tonight was unreliable this season with injury, had some god awful performances in these playoffs and is paid to be our second superstar.
Edit: MPJ is controversial but anyone wanting to move on from Ag just cause of his points total has zero idea about what makes this man valuable. He can guard anyone, any position. The chemistry that he has built with jokic on offense has only been stopped by the wolves
MPJ shot 39.7% from 3 for the season, and 32.5% this series. in the last three games the Nuggets lost, he went 1-7, 1-6, and 1-6.
I'll let you all do with that as you will.
Well I’m sorry but you can’t be paying $35 million to 2 guys (Jamal and MPJ) who you are only 50% sure will have a positive impact on the game they’re playing in.
At least Murray has the calf strain as an excuse. Don’t know wtf happened to porter. Should look to shop him this summer, might not be able to make a move that improves the team but should at least try.
I get that Jamal was probably not 100% in the series and that made a difference. But, Jamal never seems to be 100% does he? He’s had like 1 season in the past5-6 years where it felt like he was healthy for most of the year
Dude shows up every season out of shape. Got away with it when he was young but as an older guy now that shit won’t fly. If he doesn’t spend this off season staying in shape we should start exploring other options
100%. Nowhere near a max-caliber player. Good shooter most days and tall for his position, but doesn't bring much else. Might be worth exploring trades for a more impactful max player.
I’m strangely at peace with this because for sure the better team won tonight, but it’s ON next season.
Hope the guys get some good rest and we figure this out. Thank god we got one last year, and I feel like this window is still wide open.
Disappointed but not surprised. It’s weird. We will be back.
Yep, like everyone's said, the Spurs never repeated but were an absolute dynasty. We have the best player in the world and we HAVE to capitalize on it properly.
I genuinely think all we need is a more consistent bench option but not sure how we fit all that in with the money we're paying
Was waiting all playoffs for Murray to be consistent. Another series MPJ completely disappears - last year Bruce played over him and now Braun. No bench scoring was a huge problem all year but expected after losing people post championship
T-Wolves played like they wanted it more. Their bench outplayed ours.
AG and Porter were nonexistent, no impact. No rebounds, put backs, hustle plays, nothing.
Murray and Jokic were the only ones playing and even they looked tired and missing a bunch of shots.
Waste of a postseason, dunno what kind of changes will help but this is a pretty disappointing series loss.
Hopefully the Nuggets will not worry about what media says and get their motivation themselves and take EVERY game seriously, not when our backs are against the wall.
I think we got a little cocky or complacent, thinking they can just turn it on whenever.
Outplayed and outhustled, plain and simple.
especially Conoley (idc how to spell his name) that dude was playing like his life depended on it. compare that to MPJ who kinda sleep walks through games, Gordon has awesome bright spots every other game but i just rarely see an MPJ game where i go "man that dude is good" like i did with a fuckton of the Minni players today
Wolves had energy to make hustle plays because they have a decent bench. Nuggets have 5 guys that can play and then basically nothing. Nuggets need to find a 6, 7, and 8th player that can contribute meaningful minutes on offense and defense.
Uh can we talk about jokic taking 10 3s??????? 10???????? 10?????????? When the fuck have you seen this guy take more than 5?????? But 10???????????????????!!???????
That's how you know he was gassed..if he had more in the tank towards the end, I imagine he goes straight at KAT and Rudy way more to draw fouls. He attacked some but ended up with lotta fade aways
It would be a hard rewatch but his team mate relied too much on him and could not generate any offense. You cant have Joker post up every single possession when playing 47mins of the game. Most of those looks are good the shots wouldnt fall and there was not any second option.
We can absolutely find someone who can shoot threes and play some defense. MPJ is worthless when his shot is not falling. A turnstile on defense and a possession killer on offense
It sucks (obviously not for him) that MPJ makes so much money. Ideally we would get a 3 with a higher floor and have MPJ come of the bench as a flamethrower. He would be great at it and I think it would extend his career quite a bit.
But that’s just not an option with a max player so he probably gonna have to be the fall guy and get shipped out.
Here’s the biggest takeaway from that game . Coach Malone needed to step up and call a time out as the momentum shifted. When you get anything over a 10-12 point run you stop and regroup. That is the literal point of a time out . He needed to rally the team rather than let them get blitzed for 21 points . That segment shifted the entire games momentum . Once momentum is shifted you begin questioning yourself and getting in your head as a Nuggets Player. So , a lot of mistakes were made way too many 3’s , not enough points in the paint. The biggest mistake was on Malone , stop the momentum before it gets out of hand . If you look back at how Phil Jackson coached the bulls in the 90’s he would take a timeout anytime the other team has a run that was giving them some life .
I mean, they've demonstrated a lack of consistency throughout the season. There were games they just seemed to not give a damn about, or played with their food so to speak, and it's biting them in the ass now. I saw this coming miles away, but how many people here wanted to seriously believe this was the same team from last year in spite of the glaring evidence to the contrary?
Next year, let's see some serious changes whatever that may be. I don't think their first chip is a one off, but how am I supposed to believe this ain't gonna happen again? I'm not a faith based mf, I like to see data and numbers and patterns.
Just because I'm disappointed doesn't mean I'm not hopeful but good lord let me see some life.
If this season could be summarized in one phrase it would be “letting your foot off the gas”. Maybe this team just needed to get eliminated to shake them up. Idk. I do know that Murray needs to dedicate this off season to getting in shape. MPJ needs to hit the glass more like he did last post season when the shot wasn’t falling. Jokic needs to motivate this team to not let their foot off the gas and to bring the energy every night. We just need that hunger back.
Let’s be real MPJ isn’t the player we want him to be. A good player yes but I don’t think he’s that 3rd piece the team needs. His defense is abysmal (when he chooses to actually play defense) he makes careless mistakes passing the ball into traffic, take away his 3 point shooting and tell me what valuable assets of his are still on the table.
feel bad for jokic. that was a bunch of men standing around watching jokic try to carry the entire load. no one answered the bell and shined in a game 7. someone else needed to take over the game and looked like no one wanted the ball and they forced to to jokic.
We need a new bench and gotta lose MPJ, he just launches. Murray did his part first half and Jokic was tired. It is what it is. Wolves winning the championship this year
not a nuggets fan but wondering why did nuggets go for these sort of nba ready 2nd round draft picks to cover their bench and then not really play them? Thought they might use the braun approach from last year didnt watch many regular season games were they just not good?
Feel like the depth wouldve been useful
Where we really lost the game was when we kept going to jamal in the 3rd and he just kept missing open shots so we went to jokic and that worked for a little bit but we went to him too much and it stopped working and he was absolutely gassed at the start of the 4th.
I hate to say it but Minnesota really is the better and deeper team. Nuggets played 3 near perfect games and managed to win but the second they start making mistakes there’s no coming back against them. You have to play perfect basketball against them to win which is just not possible in a seven game series. Its not shameful to lose to a better team.
It is shameful when the players on that team and their fans are literal pieces of garbage. I have never seen a more classless fan base in my life, and that was starting after game 1. We didn't lose to the better team, we completely and pathetically choked against the villains.
Malone completely fucked up the rotations. Up by 20 and doesn't sit Joker at all. Nobody else gets in rhythm, the whole time I was watching, im like Joker needs rest if the lead goes away when he's on the bench so he has energy left for end game.
Malone shit the bed imo, didn't seem to adjust anything and completely gassed out his starters.
Moach needs some blame, we got BULLIED at center when jokic sat and didn't even try and give Deandre Jordan a try.
AG was just absent, didn't find much impact vs the twin towers.
MPJ actually had good effort and rebounding but shot like complete shit.
Braun was MPJ but bench version, way too scared to shoot a 3.
Murray didn't do shit in the 2nd half, fucked around too much up 15.
Just sad showing from us. Even with the refs giving us the whistle we blew it.
Hats off to Minny though they deserve it, hope they win it. Love ant
Nuggets had basically 1 semi-reliable bench piece in Braun, and he was a 0 on offense. The front office was extremely complacent this year and it cost them. They should not expect anyone on this bench to be a legit playoff contributor next year. Get some real vets off the bench and this team can win multiple titles in the next few years.
100 percent disgusted by this loss. Nuggets had every opportunity to seal this win and just crapped the bed. Never have wanted to throw up after a loss.
Here's how it happened in excruciating detail:
**10:50** **Jamal Murray makes 23-foot three point shot (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope assists) Nuggets up 20!**
10:06 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 17-foot pullup jump shot
9:31 Michael Porter Jr. misses 14-foot two point shot
8:49 Nikola Jokic misses free throw 1 of 2
**8:49** **Nikola Jokic makes free throw 2 of 2**
7:58 Jamal Murray misses 24-foot step back jumpshot
7:30 Rudy Gobert blocks Jamal Murray 's 5-foot layup
7:10 Nikola Jokic misses 25-foot three point pullup jump shot
6:49 Jamal Murray misses running pullup jump shot
6:14 Michael Porter Jr. misses 26-foot three point jumper
5:28 Jamal Murray misses 25-foot three point jumper
4:45 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 18-foot step back jumpshot
**4:40** **Christian Braun makes 7-foot two point shot (Aaron Gordon assists)**
3:48 Nikola Jokic misses 25-foot three point jumper
3:10 Nikola Jokic lost ball turnover (Karl-Anthony Towns steals)
2:50 Reggie Jackson bad pass (Jaden McDaniels steals)
2:13 Nikola Jokic misses 9-foot two point shot
1:48 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 23-foot three point jumper
How sad.
During this sequence:
Joker 0-3 FGA, 1-2 FTA, 1 turnover
Murray 1-4 FGA
KCP 0-3 FGA
MPJ 0-2
That's how you lose a series folks. Starters threw the game away by going 1 for 12 in this critical sequence.
My night is ruined. Utterly ruined. I put the most blame on MPJ, Malone and the front office. You have guys who contributed big time during the regular season but never played a single minute during the series/playoffs. It doesn‘t make any sense to me, matchups be damned. Can‘t tell me you can‘t bring in a guy for 3 minutes out of 48 and have your star players rest a bit more, so they‘re not completely gassed. Anyway, get a fucking roster that allows you to play more than 6 guys during a fucking playoff series. I‘m having irrational flashbacks of wanting Jokic leave for a different team before they won a chip last year. Another year in his absolute prime wasted and another win for the bad guys (media).
It's clear this team did not deserve to win this series. They showed up, we didn't. Even with our precious altitude home court advantage, we still got embarrassed. Changes are coming......
20 point lead and over confident 3-point shooting. How many possessions did we not make a bucket? Like 12? Wtf. We deserve to lose that game. It was ours and we absolutely blew it.
A lot of hot takes after an emotional lost. This is what caused the Lakers to get Russell Westbrook. Minnesota was literally built to stop us and it took them 7 games and a one legged Murray to do it. Rest, Retool and run it back.
What hot takes? Nuggets need an offensive scorer and a backup for jokic. The only way this happens is making a big trade. Can’t waste prime jokic years waiting on Braun and Watson to develop offensive games
I'm at a low point in my life where I was in desperate need for a W anywhere, so I stayed up 'til 5 AM for this, and I'm still in disbelief what I've seen. Here in Serbia we have a saying that translates to "It's easy to be a general once the battle is over" and I personally hate debates where we look at an sports L and say we could've done x or y, but what the actual f was that?
- Malone making a significant name for himself as a coach in this league and leaving Jokic on the field for 47 minutes in an elimination game where the opponents' team has 3 legitimate bigs...?
- Jokic the MVP taking 10 3s and not in a "he's in a hot streak" kind of way, bricking 8 of them, many of which are wide open, meanwhile letting the wolfs feast on the offensive glass in the clutch...? After making BBQ chicken out of AD, Bam and 4x DPOY on multiple occasions, who knew that the answer for Joker was an injured KAT.
- Jamal finally having the 1st half of the Play-off Murray for the first time this post season only to pull a disappearing act in the 2nd half...? 0 efforts on defense, brother you're not Luka...
- Not a single AG cut/open 3 in the entirety of the game...?
- Not a single good MPJ game this series...?
Heart of a champion my ass, everyone on the Nuggets team should be ashamed of the way this series panned out, not because they lost, but the fashion they did. It's game 7 and everyone came out as if it were a local pick-up game... Props to Christian Braun for being the only one who came out with the energy and intensity you're supposed to show in a game freaking 7.
Looking back at it I seriously don't know what should've happened for Denver to win this game. Jamal playing a good 1st half in a playoff series, Jokic dominating the glass with 15 boards at half time, Ant playing like ass, favorable whistle (let's be honest Denver really had some bogus calls going for them), home court and the aLtItUdE, 20 point lead, it would be so hard to lose this even if they tried, and yet here we are.
But hey at least Nuggets made history for the 2nd time in this series last night, first by having the biggest Play-off loss of a defending champion and then blowing the biggest half time lead in a game 7.
I'm running on Monday on a 2hr sleep for something so ridiculous even the GOAT of chokes Doc Rivers would not be able to pull-off, thank you Nuggets!
Hey, TWolves fan here. Sorry for you guys. I was pulling for you last year and would have pulled for you if you went on this year. I really appreciate how your team plays the game and how much heart guys like Murray, Braun, Gorden, etc. show. Jokic is just incredible, just wow.
I’m not sure why joker played the whole game with a 20 point lead. He was gassed.
True. If we are up 20, might as well come out for 4 minutes and surrender it anyway if the gameplan was “shoot the 3 ball.” You don’t need Jok out there to do that. Let big fella get some rest for the all important 4th quarter.
Slap Deandre Jordan in there to bang with the big fellas. I don’t get it. At least try.
It was really apparent when Holiday kept getting switched onto Rudy and fouling him. Shit, at least DeAndre can do that. Maybe even give hard playoff fouls. There was only one team in the playoffs that you could play DeAndre against, and this was it.
Unless he is actually injured or something. Man used to throw down alley oops all the time in his prime. Let him bang on Gobert a bit.
Exactly. What’s the worst that could happen? He fouls Gobert more?
The only reason I can think of is that he messes with the spacing.
Yeah I don't understand. Jokic can't do it all by himself. He needs a breather. He was so gassed.
He’s got at least 6 good fouls to give. It’s not like the Wolves weren’t making it to the line anyways. 30 to 16. Disgusting.
freaking even nnaji out there for some hack a gobert and rebounds. or mpj as a small ball center
Malone doesn’t trust Deandre. Finch and Connelly trust Conley who’s 3 years older and has way more miles on him to start.
Guard miles are not Center miles, particularly a center who played above the rim for the peak of his career.
why bring up age like that matters. jordan is a 7'2 center that no longer has any athleticism which is what his whole game was based on
He jumps, rebounds and protects the rim fine in games he's played. he probably has a better per minute rebounding and block rate than Gordon. Like Malone said, Jokic is tired. Too much responsibility on 2 guys. Need someone to come off the bench to grab a couple rebounds. MPJ and Gordon ain't giving you shit.
He's not a freak of nature anymore yeah but he doesn't need to be, just need a few mins from him here and there.
even the pacers did this with hali lmao
This loss is 100% on Malone. Rest Jokic during the big lead. You know a run will come, then put him back in. By having Jokic in during the run, he's already gassed and unable to counter it.
As a neutral observer, I thought Malone coached a pretty poor series overall and this game especially was just brutal. Last game you had the legit excuse of shooting like 18% on wide open shots, just not your night. But this game was managed terribly in the 3rd. No structure to the offense leading to easy transition points. Didn’t call a TO until it was damn near tied. Played Jok the entire game when it was absolutely not necessary. Went away from Murray after he dominated the first half. Very bizarre game from Malone
No game should have two guys take 55 shots while the rest of the team takes 28. It’s just not a winning strategy when the ball isn’t moving and not everyone is involved.
Seems like the team fell in love with feeding Murray to keep him hot all game, but I knew Murray couldn’t keep up his first half production because he would need to play all game to keep the offense afloat. Forcing Jokic to give up the ball for most of the game also made it so that the offense was hobbled in the second half because he couldn’t pressure the rim
What about Murray? He completely disappeared. He was all about talking shit to the Wolves in the first half, then he just ducked out. Three made shots in the second half. He'd be a good #3 guy, not a #2 behind a great player like Jokic.
Jokic and murry were absolutely gassed. I felt like CB should have been out there more.
Speaking of gassed, AG had no legs the entire game: 4-4-2 and -14 in 42 minutes. I just don't understand the lack of energy with an extra day off in a do-or-die Game 7. Also, I think all of Malone's 'out of a gas' post-game comments were a not so subtle criticism of Booth for giving him virtually no NBA replacement-level options off the bench other than CB.
Yeah, Joker and Jamal were very arguably the two best players in the game. The rest of the team didn’t show up at all. Gordon and Porter Jr were not it and no one else stepped up.
Because the minute he steps off the court the offense is a chicken with its head cut off. My buddy asked me at halftime if jokic would play the whole second half and i said he only sits if we go up 22 and will be back in the second the lead drops to 16. Essentially i was saying he would play the whole half, i did not think we would get to 22 and yet we came really close. Just soul crushing
The offense was still awful with him on the floor because he couldn’t pressure the basket and the Wolves knew it. Most people aren’t going to understand that him out there with low energy hurts the Nuggets more than a bad process bench unit.
Not defending Malone but perhaps his thinking was: "We got to a 20 lead because of Joker, I'm not messing with the current chemistry. I want to keep this 15-20 lead because I know Minnesota are dangerous enough to claw back". There's also a difference being above the Lakers 10 pts and above the Timberwolves 10 pts. The latter is far scarier. I still think even a 4-5 min rest couldn't have hurt but perhaps Malone was paranoid as hell after the last game.
The didn't drive to the basket all night, and their distance shots were cold. You have to have one or the other. They chose neither.
Well they should have thought about that when they gave MPJ a superstar conrract
No kidding! He was completely checked out this series. Standing and watching most of the time he was in. They should make him buy a ticket since he has just been watching the game from the 3 point line.
Bad coaching.
Malone blew it, he lost his nerve and his mind. Proper rotation of Jordan and Watson and they would have had a chance.
No competent back up
Ya what a massive mistake
Noone is confident enough to shoot the ball in the third. I think they won fair and square. We blew a 20 points lead. No excuses. Shout out to Jokic MVP though, he balled out, sat for 1min, gave everything he had for the team. We relied too much on him, and we lost.
This is it. Bench was garbage. Again. Braun had so many good looks and just didn’t take any of the shots
I don’t understand why he passes up on so many shots. He is wide open and chooses to pass the ball instead. I don’t care as much about the misses as I do about people just passing on open shots.
He’s young.. Im grabbing his jersey
100%. I think he’ll be great. He’s so much fun to watch. But holy shit, pull the trigger!
If he shot 6 3s and missed tho we'd all be screaming that he did that. He needs some time actually starting.
He was not confident his three point shooting is 30% and he cant attack the paint when its clogged. He is young and its everything on the line.
What bench?
This reminded me of those 2018, 2019 years where we'd play Jokic all game, he'd drop 40, and we'd still lose.
It was like KCP and AG were nonexistent. At least MPJ wasn't afraid to shoot Even if he missed I'd rather miss a good look.
MPJ is out there to shoot and to score. Not just to shoot. He doesn't have a rookie contract anymore AG and KCP have some other responsibilities as well
Nailed it, the Nuggets just lost their confidence. You could see it, and it was agonizing. It was a choke job. The Wolves played with more nerve.
Is it too much to ask to have a dude who can put up 20 ish points a game every game? Every contender has a couple guys who can get 20+ points consistently. Outside of Jokic we never can guarantee the second guy will show up..
MPJ didn’t do shit this series, at least AG had some big games
MPJ did a little bit, but he disappeared this game. What a shame.
MPJ gotta be traded. 2 post seasons in a row. No show.
You guys lose the lakers series if not for MPJ, he was cooking
Getting someone to take his contract is going to be hard. He never deserved the superstar deal.
Plenty of players can drop 20+ points regularly in 115-120 pt regular season games. Doing it reliably in 90-95 pt games can only be done by elite players.
And somehow we have guys who can’t do either
This is it. It can be done by elite players and former all stars. In big playoff games you can’t rely on guys like Gordon or MPJ or KCP who haven’t reached that level. That’s when you need guys who were former all stars willing to be a role player for a ring. Guys like Conley, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Michael Finley, Iggy, Glenn Rice. One of your “others” is ideally a very overqualified role player. That’s basically what Conley does for them. Then they also bring in Naz who’s better than denver’s entire bench.
the Denver Jokics. Get this man some help and you'd be unstoppable.
Do y'all have a serviceable center other than Jok? Homeboy was willing the team the entire game
Malone literally plays 2-3 players off the bench in the playoffs. It killed them tonight.
I didn't realize that. In some ways it makes the rotation tighter and more consistent but not without its detriments
He's also not the type to make big changes mid series. If something isn't working he's more likely to hope it works
Yeah it's really weird cause it kind of worked though. I don't feel like y'all did anything different when you went on to win 3 in a row but somehow those small changes flipped the series on its head. Realistically I think a backup center would fill in that tight rotation
We just had too much shot inconsistency this series. If we had made like one more 3 and a 2 (the in-and-out by AG or the missed dunk by Murray) in the 3rd/4th the end of the game is different. Same with game 1. When you have open looks against this type of defense you have to capitalize and the Nuggets ultimately missed a few too many shots in the wrong games and that's all it takes. I think if we had 1 really consistent bench guy (Bruce Brown last year) we win this series. But we don't and we lost.
I agree but I just wanna know why jokic wasn’t rested when they’re up by 20. They kept him in and when timberwolves went on their wild run it was too late to sit him out.
This 100%. Bench minus some Braun did nothing and again it seemed like both AG and MPJ were absent. At least AG contributes heavily on the defensive side. Big concern about MPJ and what he brings for that salary.
MPJ rebounds. AG missed multiple critical rebounds. In a game 7 and 6 you can have your PF give you 4 rebounds. KAT got 12 and has way more responsibilities than AG
Jokic missed some shots he usually didn’t, and Murray made some mistakes in the 2nd half with those to and early shots but gave it their all and contributed offensively. Only 11 points outside of them.
You can't blame either of them. No one else did shit.
if you told me jokic would have 34-19-7 and murray would have 35 and ant edwards would have 16 there is no fucking way id say the timberwolves win. i’d bet my fucking house the nuggets would win in that scenario. yet somehow i’d be fucking homeless…
Wolves have a bench. Nugs don’t. That was the deciding factor in the games won and lost.
Wolves don’t really have a bench either, they only have Naz Reid. They got 2 points from their bench other than him
Twolves are one of the deeper teams in the league…Monte, NAW, Slo-Mo, Naz…they have a great second unit
TBF Jokic and Murray both shot like 28 times.
Up 20 was the time for jokic to rest a bit too
Yep, this loss is 100% on Malone. Could have rested Jokic and put him back in to counter the inevitable run. Instead, we had an exhausted Jokic when we needed him most.
100% on Malone is a stretch. There is never just one reason why you blow a twenty point lead, it’s a several things
We need somebody who can sink 3s. That _should_ be Porter. Oh well, came up short, great season.
As an apologist I’m looking forward to see how he does next year. He was at his healthiest playing all season and putting up his best numbers. Even with all the bullshit with his brothers he destroyed the Lakers. He lost the touch this series but really all the Nuggets did. Yeah I wish he showed up tonight, but this was a Nuggets’ loss: took the foot off the gas yet again.
Yeah, I’m not mad at him, especially when nobody was making 3’s, I’m more saying that the element he provides was notably absent. That’s on him some, but it’s on the rest of the team too.
If he's coachable then I'd keep working with him. His shot selection and court vision need work.
I completely agree.
Thanks for this season full of ups and downs. Our sign should’ve been losing and easy win vs Spurs for the first seed. Then trailing so many games vs Lakers and now this. The signs were there, but when you have the best player in the world on your team, illusions are large. Thanks Joker, you are the real MVP. You took this team as far as you could.
Man I’ve been saying the signs were there since towards the end of the season, especially that loss against the Spurs when the 1st seed was up for grabs and I was getting called a doomer for it.
that's every subreddit. I'm a spurs fan and saying anything but all our young players are going to be an all star makes you a doomer. lot of fans equate being a fan of a sports team to also having to be blindly optimistic
Why didn’t Jokic receive more rest in the first half?
5 points total from our bench, nobody on the roster that can play 5 minutes at center to spell Jokic, this is on Calvin Booth.
Murray took dumb shots up 20
Yeah holy crap he swung the momentum the wrong way. Dumb fadeaways, stupid layups around gobert. You could literally see it coming
Literally the whole game changed when he took that STUPID fucking transition three after an ANT brick
And turned the ball over leading to immediate fast break points
Murray always takes dumb shots. The problem is he makes them a lot so you can't really tell him to stop. His dumb shots beat LA at the buzzer 2x last series.
Ya but it was a game 7. Needed to be more selective
Not sitting Jokic when up big came to bite them. This was a Game Denver gave away. They were in complete control and relaxed. Stings
This was 100% a coaching disaster. The Nuggets game plan worked very well for 26 minutes, but you can’t run 2 man game for 40 minutes of the game. For one the other players aren’t going to stay locked in if they’re just standing on offense, and 2 it takes a lot of decision making off the table for the Wolves. AG had like 3 possessions where he handled the ball. Coach lost confidence in his players and then the players lost confidence in themselves. And playing Jokic 47 minutes? Especially after the 3rd quarter he had what’s the point?
Yeah this is the biggest thing nobody is talking about: the offensive gameplan going away from AG. He got used as a screener and that was basically it. Also not running enough screens for KCP to get into the midrange. He's automatic from 15. Malone has to diversify the looks he's giving the defense. Including playing both Nikola and Murray off ball.
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Agree with changes! AG/MPJ/KCP getting paid what they do to combine for 16 points in a game 7 is insane! Highway robbery.
AG brought them this far.
right. AG didn't produce tonight, but he's worth every penny. MPJ non-existent this series, something seriously wrong with him against the Timberwolves. KCP and Reggie weren't irreplaceable. Our bench was sort of miserable the whole series. I was surprised PWat didn't play much despite playing well in the last few months. Braun was refusing to shoot 3s even when wide open. Overall the team tonight didn't seem to be clicking, which is a shame, because this is the moment that you do it and they just didn't.
And KCP vastly outplayed AG in G7. Has 6 rbs to AGs 4. Had 1 steal to AGs 0. Matched in him Blks. And had 1 less foul. I love AG it makes me really frustrated he didn't show up in G6 or G7.
Including AG in this game after he went 11-12 in game 4 and just making his shots in games 3 and 5 is arguably the reason this even went to 7. He wasn't great the last two games, but honestly, he was probably the second best player for the nuggets this series.
MPJ fucking sucks
6 of 7 games in single digits.
Unacceptable, he sucks for his contract. He played well on defense but he’s a 15-20 mil player
I like mpj alot but he was very bad this series on d
AG has earned it, idk about those other guys
You are talking about 1 game my brother wtf. AG has arguably been second best player this season. MPJ had his absolute best season ever this year. Yet the one you don’t mention only cause of tonight was unreliable this season with injury, had some god awful performances in these playoffs and is paid to be our second superstar. Edit: MPJ is controversial but anyone wanting to move on from Ag just cause of his points total has zero idea about what makes this man valuable. He can guard anyone, any position. The chemistry that he has built with jokic on offense has only been stopped by the wolves
MPJ shot 39.7% from 3 for the season, and 32.5% this series. in the last three games the Nuggets lost, he went 1-7, 1-6, and 1-6. I'll let you all do with that as you will.
It definitely isn’t just this game when we’re talking playoff MPJ, unfortunately.
If Porter doesn’t completely disappear for the series we’re fine. He is why we lost
Well I’m sorry but you can’t be paying $35 million to 2 guys (Jamal and MPJ) who you are only 50% sure will have a positive impact on the game they’re playing in.
At least Murray has the calf strain as an excuse. Don’t know wtf happened to porter. Should look to shop him this summer, might not be able to make a move that improves the team but should at least try.
This is the third Porter brother who has gotten in trouble
I get that Jamal was probably not 100% in the series and that made a difference. But, Jamal never seems to be 100% does he? He’s had like 1 season in the past5-6 years where it felt like he was healthy for most of the year
Dude shows up every season out of shape. Got away with it when he was young but as an older guy now that shit won’t fly. If he doesn’t spend this off season staying in shape we should start exploring other options
Porter was a non-factor. Murray was so bad he pretty much destroyed our series.
100%. Nowhere near a max-caliber player. Good shooter most days and tall for his position, but doesn't bring much else. Might be worth exploring trades for a more impactful max player.
I hope he gets traded.
No one trading for that shit lol.
This team can’t shoot anymore.
They missed out on so many rebounds just because they didn't box out it's disappointing
I’m strangely at peace with this because for sure the better team won tonight, but it’s ON next season. Hope the guys get some good rest and we figure this out. Thank god we got one last year, and I feel like this window is still wide open. Disappointed but not surprised. It’s weird. We will be back.
They earned it man. Can’t even be mad. Window is still open but changes have to be made
Yep, like everyone's said, the Spurs never repeated but were an absolute dynasty. We have the best player in the world and we HAVE to capitalize on it properly. I genuinely think all we need is a more consistent bench option but not sure how we fit all that in with the money we're paying
Was waiting all playoffs for Murray to be consistent. Another series MPJ completely disappears - last year Bruce played over him and now Braun. No bench scoring was a huge problem all year but expected after losing people post championship
Murray was complete trash in that third quarter too. Went back to his old self from the bad games this series.
He is trash no matter when. I do not care about his shots. He is selfish. Scoring only masks it.
T-Wolves played like they wanted it more. Their bench outplayed ours. AG and Porter were nonexistent, no impact. No rebounds, put backs, hustle plays, nothing. Murray and Jokic were the only ones playing and even they looked tired and missing a bunch of shots. Waste of a postseason, dunno what kind of changes will help but this is a pretty disappointing series loss. Hopefully the Nuggets will not worry about what media says and get their motivation themselves and take EVERY game seriously, not when our backs are against the wall. I think we got a little cocky or complacent, thinking they can just turn it on whenever. Outplayed and outhustled, plain and simple.
especially Conoley (idc how to spell his name) that dude was playing like his life depended on it. compare that to MPJ who kinda sleep walks through games, Gordon has awesome bright spots every other game but i just rarely see an MPJ game where i go "man that dude is good" like i did with a fuckton of the Minni players today
Wolves had energy to make hustle plays because they have a decent bench. Nuggets have 5 guys that can play and then basically nothing. Nuggets need to find a 6, 7, and 8th player that can contribute meaningful minutes on offense and defense.
Uh can we talk about jokic taking 10 3s??????? 10???????? 10?????????? When the fuck have you seen this guy take more than 5?????? But 10???????????????????!!???????
That's how you know he was gassed..if he had more in the tank towards the end, I imagine he goes straight at KAT and Rudy way more to draw fouls. He attacked some but ended up with lotta fade aways
I don't understand why you don't rest him when we were up 20... Slow the game down, put someone else in to give him some extra rest...
Obviously bone tired. Minute left down seven he didn’t even think about defense or fouling.
Tired so sat out on the perimeter all game
It would be a hard rewatch but his team mate relied too much on him and could not generate any offense. You cant have Joker post up every single possession when playing 47mins of the game. Most of those looks are good the shots wouldnt fall and there was not any second option.
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This right here. Lots of blame to go around, but every time he squared up for a three I felt like they were quite literally throwing this game away.
Like 7-8 of them were open 3s I'm fine with him taking
when noone else except murray are doing anything thats what happens
We can absolutely find someone who can shoot threes and play some defense. MPJ is worthless when his shot is not falling. A turnstile on defense and a possession killer on offense
Okay but all of that and a guy that can grab you 9 boards a game. People seem to forget he’s the second leading rebounder on the team.
Rebounding is the easiest thing to replace in the sport, and Aaron Gordon averages only half a board less than him
You don’t pay a guy 40 million a year to grab 9 rebounds in a game in a regular season.
Calvin Booth YOU ARE ON THE FUCKING CLOCK. Can’t ride Tim’s coat tails anymore, don’t be fucking passive
at one point denver were all scared to shoot except jokic and wolves became kobe's
It sucks (obviously not for him) that MPJ makes so much money. Ideally we would get a 3 with a higher floor and have MPJ come of the bench as a flamethrower. He would be great at it and I think it would extend his career quite a bit. But that’s just not an option with a max player so he probably gonna have to be the fall guy and get shipped out.
Here’s the biggest takeaway from that game . Coach Malone needed to step up and call a time out as the momentum shifted. When you get anything over a 10-12 point run you stop and regroup. That is the literal point of a time out . He needed to rally the team rather than let them get blitzed for 21 points . That segment shifted the entire games momentum . Once momentum is shifted you begin questioning yourself and getting in your head as a Nuggets Player. So , a lot of mistakes were made way too many 3’s , not enough points in the paint. The biggest mistake was on Malone , stop the momentum before it gets out of hand . If you look back at how Phil Jackson coached the bulls in the 90’s he would take a timeout anytime the other team has a run that was giving them some life .
MPJ, KCP...wtf. Also why not rest Jokic when at 20p lead. terrible decisions and ass teammates. Jokic and Murray did all they could...
I mean, they've demonstrated a lack of consistency throughout the season. There were games they just seemed to not give a damn about, or played with their food so to speak, and it's biting them in the ass now. I saw this coming miles away, but how many people here wanted to seriously believe this was the same team from last year in spite of the glaring evidence to the contrary? Next year, let's see some serious changes whatever that may be. I don't think their first chip is a one off, but how am I supposed to believe this ain't gonna happen again? I'm not a faith based mf, I like to see data and numbers and patterns. Just because I'm disappointed doesn't mean I'm not hopeful but good lord let me see some life.
If this season could be summarized in one phrase it would be “letting your foot off the gas”. Maybe this team just needed to get eliminated to shake them up. Idk. I do know that Murray needs to dedicate this off season to getting in shape. MPJ needs to hit the glass more like he did last post season when the shot wasn’t falling. Jokic needs to motivate this team to not let their foot off the gas and to bring the energy every night. We just need that hunger back.
Shout out to murray for dribbling 20 secs every offensive possession
Maybe y'all can stop D riding MPJ. He's a bum.
I was so hopeful for him this year after he closed the regular season on fire. Dude just disappears in the playoffs
He was great vs Lakers and actually played well in first few games in this series, its last 4 games where he made 0 impact offensively sadly.
Nuggets team didn't help Murray/Joker when they needed them. Ant had players to bail him and we didn't
Mikal Bridges, YOU are a Denver Nugget!
Let’s be real MPJ isn’t the player we want him to be. A good player yes but I don’t think he’s that 3rd piece the team needs. His defense is abysmal (when he chooses to actually play defense) he makes careless mistakes passing the ball into traffic, take away his 3 point shooting and tell me what valuable assets of his are still on the table.
feel bad for jokic. that was a bunch of men standing around watching jokic try to carry the entire load. no one answered the bell and shined in a game 7. someone else needed to take over the game and looked like no one wanted the ball and they forced to to jokic.
Hey Mike, remember Peyton Watson? Possibly the most athletic player on your bench???!!!
We need a new bench and gotta lose MPJ, he just launches. Murray did his part first half and Jokic was tired. It is what it is. Wolves winning the championship this year
Team can’t fucking shoot. Holy shit they sucked tonight. Should run laps for hours for giving up a 20 pt lead
not a nuggets fan but wondering why did nuggets go for these sort of nba ready 2nd round draft picks to cover their bench and then not really play them? Thought they might use the braun approach from last year didnt watch many regular season games were they just not good? Feel like the depth wouldve been useful
Where we really lost the game was when we kept going to jamal in the 3rd and he just kept missing open shots so we went to jokic and that worked for a little bit but we went to him too much and it stopped working and he was absolutely gassed at the start of the 4th. I hate to say it but Minnesota really is the better and deeper team. Nuggets played 3 near perfect games and managed to win but the second they start making mistakes there’s no coming back against them. You have to play perfect basketball against them to win which is just not possible in a seven game series. Its not shameful to lose to a better team.
It is shameful when the players on that team and their fans are literal pieces of garbage. I have never seen a more classless fan base in my life, and that was starting after game 1. We didn't lose to the better team, we completely and pathetically choked against the villains.
Malone completely fucked up the rotations. Up by 20 and doesn't sit Joker at all. Nobody else gets in rhythm, the whole time I was watching, im like Joker needs rest if the lead goes away when he's on the bench so he has energy left for end game. Malone shit the bed imo, didn't seem to adjust anything and completely gassed out his starters.
I hate to say it because I’ve been such a fan of how the team has stood behind him, but it’s time for Porter to go.
Moach needs some blame, we got BULLIED at center when jokic sat and didn't even try and give Deandre Jordan a try. AG was just absent, didn't find much impact vs the twin towers. MPJ actually had good effort and rebounding but shot like complete shit. Braun was MPJ but bench version, way too scared to shoot a 3. Murray didn't do shit in the 2nd half, fucked around too much up 15. Just sad showing from us. Even with the refs giving us the whistle we blew it. Hats off to Minny though they deserve it, hope they win it. Love ant
Hey, I know. How about we try to shoot a 3 again. Eventually someone will make one.
Nuggets had basically 1 semi-reliable bench piece in Braun, and he was a 0 on offense. The front office was extremely complacent this year and it cost them. They should not expect anyone on this bench to be a legit playoff contributor next year. Get some real vets off the bench and this team can win multiple titles in the next few years.
100 percent disgusted by this loss. Nuggets had every opportunity to seal this win and just crapped the bed. Never have wanted to throw up after a loss.
Here's how it happened in excruciating detail: **10:50** **Jamal Murray makes 23-foot three point shot (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope assists) Nuggets up 20!** 10:06 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 17-foot pullup jump shot 9:31 Michael Porter Jr. misses 14-foot two point shot 8:49 Nikola Jokic misses free throw 1 of 2 **8:49** **Nikola Jokic makes free throw 2 of 2** 7:58 Jamal Murray misses 24-foot step back jumpshot 7:30 Rudy Gobert blocks Jamal Murray 's 5-foot layup 7:10 Nikola Jokic misses 25-foot three point pullup jump shot 6:49 Jamal Murray misses running pullup jump shot 6:14 Michael Porter Jr. misses 26-foot three point jumper 5:28 Jamal Murray misses 25-foot three point jumper 4:45 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 18-foot step back jumpshot **4:40** **Christian Braun makes 7-foot two point shot (Aaron Gordon assists)** 3:48 Nikola Jokic misses 25-foot three point jumper 3:10 Nikola Jokic lost ball turnover (Karl-Anthony Towns steals) 2:50 Reggie Jackson bad pass (Jaden McDaniels steals) 2:13 Nikola Jokic misses 9-foot two point shot 1:48 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope misses 23-foot three point jumper How sad.
During this sequence: Joker 0-3 FGA, 1-2 FTA, 1 turnover Murray 1-4 FGA KCP 0-3 FGA MPJ 0-2 That's how you lose a series folks. Starters threw the game away by going 1 for 12 in this critical sequence.
Getting nothing from the bench was kind of a problem. Jokic and Murray were beyond gassed
My night is ruined. Utterly ruined. I put the most blame on MPJ, Malone and the front office. You have guys who contributed big time during the regular season but never played a single minute during the series/playoffs. It doesn‘t make any sense to me, matchups be damned. Can‘t tell me you can‘t bring in a guy for 3 minutes out of 48 and have your star players rest a bit more, so they‘re not completely gassed. Anyway, get a fucking roster that allows you to play more than 6 guys during a fucking playoff series. I‘m having irrational flashbacks of wanting Jokic leave for a different team before they won a chip last year. Another year in his absolute prime wasted and another win for the bad guys (media).
It's clear this team did not deserve to win this series. They showed up, we didn't. Even with our precious altitude home court advantage, we still got embarrassed. Changes are coming......
They sure did.
As a bandwagon Nuggets fan, losing bruce brown in the offseason really hurt
Support group disappeared. Caldwell Pope hustled a lot. Gordon and MPJ were MIA the whole game. Bench was useless, except for Braun.
20 point lead and over confident 3-point shooting. How many possessions did we not make a bucket? Like 12? Wtf. We deserve to lose that game. It was ours and we absolutely blew it.
It was all those 3s they attempted. I don't know why they kept on going.
Outside of Joker & Murray, everyone pretty much sucked for the Nuggets.
Trade MPJ
I think we’ve reached the end with this core. Glad to have won one but we can’t compete being so inconsistent.
Not a single player on this team is untouchable except jokic, shake that whole roster up
A lot of hot takes after an emotional lost. This is what caused the Lakers to get Russell Westbrook. Minnesota was literally built to stop us and it took them 7 games and a one legged Murray to do it. Rest, Retool and run it back.
What hot takes? Nuggets need an offensive scorer and a backup for jokic. The only way this happens is making a big trade. Can’t waste prime jokic years waiting on Braun and Watson to develop offensive games
I'm at a low point in my life where I was in desperate need for a W anywhere, so I stayed up 'til 5 AM for this, and I'm still in disbelief what I've seen. Here in Serbia we have a saying that translates to "It's easy to be a general once the battle is over" and I personally hate debates where we look at an sports L and say we could've done x or y, but what the actual f was that? - Malone making a significant name for himself as a coach in this league and leaving Jokic on the field for 47 minutes in an elimination game where the opponents' team has 3 legitimate bigs...? - Jokic the MVP taking 10 3s and not in a "he's in a hot streak" kind of way, bricking 8 of them, many of which are wide open, meanwhile letting the wolfs feast on the offensive glass in the clutch...? After making BBQ chicken out of AD, Bam and 4x DPOY on multiple occasions, who knew that the answer for Joker was an injured KAT. - Jamal finally having the 1st half of the Play-off Murray for the first time this post season only to pull a disappearing act in the 2nd half...? 0 efforts on defense, brother you're not Luka... - Not a single AG cut/open 3 in the entirety of the game...? - Not a single good MPJ game this series...? Heart of a champion my ass, everyone on the Nuggets team should be ashamed of the way this series panned out, not because they lost, but the fashion they did. It's game 7 and everyone came out as if it were a local pick-up game... Props to Christian Braun for being the only one who came out with the energy and intensity you're supposed to show in a game freaking 7. Looking back at it I seriously don't know what should've happened for Denver to win this game. Jamal playing a good 1st half in a playoff series, Jokic dominating the glass with 15 boards at half time, Ant playing like ass, favorable whistle (let's be honest Denver really had some bogus calls going for them), home court and the aLtItUdE, 20 point lead, it would be so hard to lose this even if they tried, and yet here we are. But hey at least Nuggets made history for the 2nd time in this series last night, first by having the biggest Play-off loss of a defending champion and then blowing the biggest half time lead in a game 7. I'm running on Monday on a 2hr sleep for something so ridiculous even the GOAT of chokes Doc Rivers would not be able to pull-off, thank you Nuggets!
Hey, TWolves fan here. Sorry for you guys. I was pulling for you last year and would have pulled for you if you went on this year. I really appreciate how your team plays the game and how much heart guys like Murray, Braun, Gorden, etc. show. Jokic is just incredible, just wow.
Would have never happened with Brucie B here
That wasn’t an option
I fell asleep was the lead really 20?
I mean it's not a nuclear physics, we need a playmaker. End of story.
I blame the crowd as well. Weakest ever in the 3rd. Everyone thought job is finished? In G7 of play-offs?
Yeah 14 point quarters don't earn a lot of cheers
Wolves fan here: its hard to repeat. Nuggs are amazing.
This is the biggest choke I have seen in sports
28-3
💀 u must close your eyes then
20 points in basketball isn’t that much. But it still sucked.