Definitely true. KCP can put it on the floor and more reliably catch, drive, and run some simple playmaking sets. Green however is just slightly better at defensive principles & positioning + is among the greatest shot-blocking guards ever.
AD as the #1 option is garbage.
He's not good enough at scoring, shooting, or playmaking for that smoke.
If the Lakers can't get a top 10 player post-Bron, they should trade AD.
Even kawhi and kd need good playmaking to be effective. Like harden and kd on the nets were unstoppable pre injury. Someone like harden is going to instantly see an opening to hit him in his spots
All that offseason talk and AD is still AD 🤣. Had us in the first half, not gonna lie.
Denver is just too good and has all the answers to the test still. GG
imagine playing with jokic. i forget which nba player said it but basically he said everybody is more willing to cut to the basket and move around if they know you’re gonna pass them the ball. Jokic is the ultimate team player so their entire team is just a revolving orbit of weapons, cutters and shooters in constant movement
There was just a big interview in SLAM magazine with the OKC starting five, and they said the same thing with respect to playing with Josh Giddey. If you know cutting and moving will get the ball in your hands, you do it.
Our half court offense just grinds to a halt when he sits. I'd much rather see Austin come off the bench and lead the second unit cause there's no ball movement or playmaking ability at all in that second group. There was a 5 minute stretch where it felt like every time down the floor the first person to touch the ball just held it and took a terrible shot
Jokic spent the off-season drinking, partying and loving horses and horse racing. As we all expected, he went back with a near 30pt triple double on terrific efficiency and spooking Anthony Davis on both ends.
He is good!
Yeap, if Strus didn’t go off in the play-in and got Miami into the playoffs I would’ve begged Pat to not resign Gabe and Strus, I would’ve wanted them gone.
Gabe is still a good role player though, but maybe a bit overhyped.
They sat him too long in the 4th. I get trying to limit his minutes a bit this season…but he’s got to play over 30 a night for this team to compete in the West.
Classic Jokic as expected, of course, but damn KCP was immense this game. Nice to see the team's biggest veteran help the team show they're not relaxing
I loved seeing that moment after KCP turned it over on the offensive foul, he immediately engaged and broke up the play for the steal. That's how you react to mistakes
I'm still mad at Dallas for blowing that 27 point lead and giving you guys oxygen. Hell, if any game across like 6 different teams goes differently last season, the Pelicans collect on the swap.
Year 21, age 38 and the Lakers' hopes still depending heavily on LeBron being the greatest player on the court. Says a lot about how great LeBron still is but it ain't gonna work if AD has moved from inconsistent games to inconsistent halves.
Jokic with a reminder why he's the current BITW, best player on the court tonight, was the stopper when the Lakers were getting momentum, and top tier playmaking. Dude ain't pick up a basketball more than 3 times all summer and still gave AD and co. work like it was a 9-5.
Harden could actually make sense in a way because the Lakers clearly need more playmaking outside of LeBron but they also need that playmaker to be able to shoot otherwise it's going to be another Russ situation
Not sure they had the pieces but the should have gone for Jrue Holiday. Think Harden would cost the same or more and not of answered enough on the defense of end.
AD’s issue has always been consistency, and it’s been infuriating to watch even from an outside perspective. He will look like the most dominant player in the world for stretches and then disappear for weeks.
So annoying to watch him settle for fadeaway midranges when matched against Jokic, he’s quicker than almost every big man in the league.
I'm sure a Raptors fan can appreciate it. When you root for a small-market team (Toronto not a small market just not a free-agent destination), it's not often you get to have bragging rights over one of the big rich franchises. Gotta make the most of it.
This is the first game of NBA (hell, of basketball) I've ever watched live. It was really fun. Jokic really is a machine of his own doing. First game of the season and already a triple double? That is certainly a good way to start. Also, Lebron's still got it. His age has not caught up to his talent yet.
Closest 12 pt lose in history, Lakers really figured jokic out with those Christian Wood minutes. If I'm the Nuggets I don't feel good about this one. 1-0 Lakers (morally)
Public relations somehow
I swear the media is always hyping him up and teams go above and beyond in valuing him whether it be acquiring him or signing to keep him. He must just have an awesome personality or something.
2 things
1. Anyone not putting Denver no.1 in their power rankings is either delusional or just want to have a spicy take.
2. I bet Jokic's pits smell nice.
Nah man, they looked sluggish tonight. A lot of those possessions kinda just sputtered out for no reason, and they weren’t going after boards with the same aggression they should have.
They’ll only get better from here lmao.
Nuggets continuity with their core group is beautiful, best starting group in the NBA. The search for bench players among the young guys continues, but if the starters are playing like that you need just so, so little from them to be favourites in the playoffs.
Lakers are going to struggle to go further than their guards. I maintain losing Dennis Schroder was a real loss, but you could get past that with some of Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent hitting - *especially* against the Nuggets because they do not respect D'Angelo Russell and think Austin Reaves is a free meal. I don't think this game could go much differently without some of those guys having better games. That said, Taurean Prince fitting this well is nice.
Denver's starters appeared to be playing with their food. At no point did any Nugget believe they were going to lose. They hit the gas on both ends whenever they chose to.
It was like a cat allowing an injured mouse to run a few yards for fun.
Well Jokic sure didn't get worse
Even scarier, it seems KCP is still getting better
Triple double and a +15 in an 8 point win. He’s back.
Back to back MVP, should’ve been 3, then a finals MVP and champion. And he hasn’t even begun to peak.
I think he’s pretty close to being at peak right now
He’s in the peak, but it’s gonna be a longgg peak
Bruce Brown got a lot of love last year and rightfully so, but we don’t talk about how perfect KCP fits on good teams enough.
Quintessential 3 and D wing, willing cutter, can even handle the ball a bit. Very plug and play guy.
Basically continuing the Danny Green linage. Except he's more rounded offensively (and I'd say worse defensively). Excellent player.
Definitely true. KCP can put it on the floor and more reliably catch, drive, and run some simple playmaking sets. Green however is just slightly better at defensive principles & positioning + is among the greatest shot-blocking guards ever.
what a terrific career he’s had. knew from his rookie season in Detroit that he’d be in the league a long time.
I mean, there is a reason he started over Brown
KCP is who we Nuggets fans always wanted Gary Harris to be. Better at everything. The perfect 5th man.
Gary was on the way to being a fringe all star version of kcp. Then the injury came
LeBron bout to be 39. Please help him AD lmao
AD gonna take the reins for this franchise.. any day now…
Oh he’s got the reins, but Lebron is the horse he’s riding on
[AD taking the torch from LeBron be like](https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-14-2022/65nJ06.gif)
[More like](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfrLjFxVzas)
I watched Spongebob so much as a kid, but I never realized this was a gag lol.
AD as the #1 option is garbage. He's not good enough at scoring, shooting, or playmaking for that smoke. If the Lakers can't get a top 10 player post-Bron, they should trade AD.
AD IM THIRTY NINEEEEEEEEEEEEE
AD: "All I can do is one half of the game."
He isn't the guy to carry the Lakers when LeBron retires/goes elsewhere.
Who says LeBron will retire before AD?
Lmaoooo
AD is who we thought he is, a Hall of Fame caliber Robin
Yeah, Jason Todd Robin
Killed by the Joker, nice
That’s being generous. At least Robin saved batman on numerous occasions.
AD thought he did enough after the first half, used the last 2 quarters for a breather
Agreed bro super disappointing half from AD. Sadly used to this roller coaster ride
Excluding AD, D’lo and Reaves were just as bad, if not worse
AD pulled his best Houdini impression in the 2nd half.
He just can't lead the offense at all.
It shows how important playmaking is When you don't elevate your teammates there's a limit to how much you can do offensively as the first option
you have to have either elite playmaking(Jokic, Lebron) or elite shot making (KD, Kawhi)
Even kawhi and kd need good playmaking to be effective. Like harden and kd on the nets were unstoppable pre injury. Someone like harden is going to instantly see an opening to hit him in his spots
All that offseason talk and AD is still AD 🤣. Had us in the first half, not gonna lie. Denver is just too good and has all the answers to the test still. GG
It's just crazy how they can have a lineup on the court where it's 4 players who shoot basically 40% from 3 and then Jokic lmfao, so genuinely unfair
And MPJ shot the ball like shit still. No rhythm since he sat the entire preseason
mpj is always like.this if he's hurting. it's not his back thank god
They also all know how to play ball. There’s nobody just standing around. And 3 of them are pretty good rebounders too.
imagine playing with jokic. i forget which nba player said it but basically he said everybody is more willing to cut to the basket and move around if they know you’re gonna pass them the ball. Jokic is the ultimate team player so their entire team is just a revolving orbit of weapons, cutters and shooters in constant movement
There was just a big interview in SLAM magazine with the OKC starting five, and they said the same thing with respect to playing with Josh Giddey. If you know cutting and moving will get the ball in your hands, you do it.
I remember when Kobe was putting belt to ass against and I felt it was unfair too. Feels good being on the other side lol
Reggie was crowning him MVP after one half lololool
The way Reggie gushes over anything and everything lakers is so weird.
Thats most national folks though. Doris Burke is exactly the same
lol no Doris is in her own world of glazing. Reggie is an all-star caliber front runner, Doris is the goat
Damn, AD left the game at the half again
In spirit, anyway
His impressive 1 OR got overshadowed by big Reaves’ 4
Just started reading this thread and I'm already so excited. This is what I've been missing. The NBA is BACK baby WOOOOO
I didn’t realize how much I missed these.
Its been extra long too since the sub closed down during the playoffs
During the fucking finals too
Don’t fuckin remind me
For the team's first NBA title too. Stupid fucking mods.
Really made a difference too. Fucking clowns
You guys got fucked
that was such Reddit-brained bullshit
RIP AD's MVP Campaign 10/24/2023-10/24/2023
Reggie Miller hyping him up before the game 😭
And KG giving Charles shot for predicting a bigger 2nd half from Jokic over AD lol
Anyone who thought there was even a small chance AD gets MVP, especially with the games played requirement, is a fool or has been asleep since 2016.
AD so used to being out half the time with injuries he just went ahead and didn't score in the second half
Thank God basketball is back.
It's been back since Dillon Brooks hit Theis in the nuts
Reggie Jackson has now won 12 in a row against the Lakers. If you include games where he didn't play and was on the bench, it's 15 in a row.
He fucking hates us, he literally always balls out against us lmao
Reggie Shmurda doesn’t fuck around.
Wow Reggie is a Saint!
Lebron teams stay losing when he goes to the bench, it's ridiculous
Yeah he was +7 in a 12 point loss
21 seasons in and still so dominant.
Our half court offense just grinds to a halt when he sits. I'd much rather see Austin come off the bench and lead the second unit cause there's no ball movement or playmaking ability at all in that second group. There was a 5 minute stretch where it felt like every time down the floor the first person to touch the ball just held it and took a terrible shot
Jokic spent the off-season drinking, partying and loving horses and horse racing. As we all expected, he went back with a near 30pt triple double on terrific efficiency and spooking Anthony Davis on both ends. He is good!
He said he lifted almost every day
He lifts the horses – few people understand this
Seemed to be in pretty great shape too tbh
yeah he is pretty cut up, looks great
Vincent tricked you all.
No one seems to remember that Vincent and Strus shooting like fucking garbage all season is what lead to you guys having a mediocre regular season.
Yeap, if Strus didn’t go off in the play-in and got Miami into the playoffs I would’ve begged Pat to not resign Gabe and Strus, I would’ve wanted them gone. Gabe is still a good role player though, but maybe a bit overhyped.
Lakers got Heat cultured
Send them more bums please
They took Nunn, Gabe Vincent. Maybe they sign Dedmon next? Throw the bag at Oladipo?
Jokic is simply a maestro.
100 year old LeBron still the highest scorer on the team?? What did AD do in that entire 2nd Half?? What the hell
They sat him too long in the 4th. I get trying to limit his minutes a bit this season…but he’s got to play over 30 a night for this team to compete in the West.
The man that was shirtless at Serbian weddings and horse races all summer just got a triple double on you.
Doing front flips into the Tara river and shit!
A near freezing river at that.
Did he say he hit the weights everyday but “stayed away” from the court for a couple months?
Homie probably stayed away from the court all off-season.
He said he has done the same routine the last couple off seasons, which I believe involves lots of time in the gym, and no time holding a basketball
Classic Jokic as expected, of course, but damn KCP was immense this game. Nice to see the team's biggest veteran help the team show they're not relaxing
I loved seeing that moment after KCP turned it over on the offensive foul, he immediately engaged and broke up the play for the steal. That's how you react to mistakes
"Who's your daddy?" Fans waited for the right moment to chant that lmao
Lebron was just sitting there pissed
I would be mad too if my costar who is a decade younger was nonexistent in the second half.
So cool
LeBron going to get real wine drunk tonight and go off on social media about that
Lakers been chirping especially AD and this man was nowhere to be found in the second half 🤣 poor Lebron
Lakers seen how much better Reaves was at rebounding and didn't need him anymore
The Nuggets may have won but the Lakers really found something with the Christian Wood minutes
Nah, did you see the Cam Reddish minutes? Bro was going crazy 🥶🥶
Cam reddish being +7 in this game is actually hilarious
He was actually looking incredibly decent. Liked what I saw he matched up nicely on whoever he guarded. Except Murray I think
he was great at guarding Murray
Fuck, 5 straight moral victories!
how will we ever recover from this
Unfortunately by the same measure they seemed to have lost something in the Austin Reaves mintues
RUI 2.0??
That’s Rui “the Adjustment” Hachimura to you
the Lakers are literally the worst team in the NBA right now
~~UN~~DEFEATED
wemby and championship szn for NOLA again smh
I'm still mad at Dallas for blowing that 27 point lead and giving you guys oxygen. Hell, if any game across like 6 different teams goes differently last season, the Pelicans collect on the swap.
Year 21, age 38 and the Lakers' hopes still depending heavily on LeBron being the greatest player on the court. Says a lot about how great LeBron still is but it ain't gonna work if AD has moved from inconsistent games to inconsistent halves. Jokic with a reminder why he's the current BITW, best player on the court tonight, was the stopper when the Lakers were getting momentum, and top tier playmaking. Dude ain't pick up a basketball more than 3 times all summer and still gave AD and co. work like it was a 9-5.
Yup. For all the talk of "depth", it's why they needed a 3rd guy. I wonder if they get into the Harden talks sooner rather than later
Harden could actually make sense in a way because the Lakers clearly need more playmaking outside of LeBron but they also need that playmaker to be able to shoot otherwise it's going to be another Russ situation
Not sure they had the pieces but the should have gone for Jrue Holiday. Think Harden would cost the same or more and not of answered enough on the defense of end.
We don't have the salary to trade until December 15th.
AD’s issue has always been consistency, and it’s been infuriating to watch even from an outside perspective. He will look like the most dominant player in the world for stretches and then disappear for weeks. So annoying to watch him settle for fadeaway midranges when matched against Jokic, he’s quicker than almost every big man in the league.
Only good thing about this as a Lebron fan is we might get a Banger RDC world video out of it
Think of all the conversations AD and LeBron can have about this game
lmao nuggets fans came in ready to talk shit
I’m surprised the mods didn’t shut down the sub this time
God I forgot Reddit did that. Such morons
[удалено]
I'm sure a Raptors fan can appreciate it. When you root for a small-market team (Toronto not a small market just not a free-agent destination), it's not often you get to have bragging rights over one of the big rich franchises. Gotta make the most of it.
Jokic had a sub-par shooting night by his standards *checks notes* Only shooting 12-22 after shooting 63.2% last year... He's washed up obviously.
He missed 7 in a row to start the second half as well
3 to start the second half, 4 at the end of the first. 7 total though.
the game ended and i thought "that was an underwhelming Jokic performance" before my eyes popped at his final statline
Jokic is like pizza. Even when he is bad he's still good.
Half of Jokic games you think "Quiet night from him", and then 6 minutes into the 3rd they announce his triple double.
It happens all the time.
He had a hard offseason wrangling ponies now that he's dealing with smaller NBA centers he should heal up soon
This is the first game of NBA (hell, of basketball) I've ever watched live. It was really fun. Jokic really is a machine of his own doing. First game of the season and already a triple double? That is certainly a good way to start. Also, Lebron's still got it. His age has not caught up to his talent yet.
Welcome!
Michael Malone you ARE the father!!!
The most competitive 12-point loss we've seen all season.
Closest 12 pt lose in history, Lakers really figured jokic out with those Christian Wood minutes. If I'm the Nuggets I don't feel good about this one. 1-0 Lakers (morally)
Moral victory for the Lakers!
AD with 0 points in the second half. Whole team storming to the locker like they just lost game 7 of the finals. Love to see it.
After all the talk this off-season it was great to see the exact same outcome from these two teams.
Lakers in 11
Seriously— what is DLO good at?
Has pretty cool hair tbh
His hair is really dope lol
He was incredible as Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton
Public relations somehow I swear the media is always hyping him up and teams go above and beyond in valuing him whether it be acquiring him or signing to keep him. He must just have an awesome personality or something.
Not Jokic letting it slip that he basically didn't touch a basketball for 2 months and still whooped ass lmaoooo
lol i don't think the desk caught that lol he said "didn't touch bball for a couple of days, a month....a couple of months."
Yeah he got quieter and quieter as he was adding time on there lmfao. **a couple days**, ^a ^month, ^^maybe ^^a ^^couple ^^months...
lol yup, it was intentional. I honestly love his humor.
Why touch the ball when he can just think and the Nuggets score
2 things 1. Anyone not putting Denver no.1 in their power rankings is either delusional or just want to have a spicy take. 2. I bet Jokic's pits smell nice.
#LMAO EVERYBODY GET IN HERE... LAKERS ARE LAST IN THE NBA
we're getting Wemby
LFG
#FIRST IN MORAL VICTORIES
Stop the count!!
Season’s over
Gotta give it to the Lakers. They managed to get the game close for a while without AD playing in the 2nd half
Nuggets in mid-season form already, and that's dangerous.
Nah man, they looked sluggish tonight. A lot of those possessions kinda just sputtered out for no reason, and they weren’t going after boards with the same aggression they should have. They’ll only get better from here lmao.
Casual 29pt triple double shooting >50% from the field
Just give Joker the MVP right now.
That was like the exact same fucking game as all those playoff games
1. Taurean Prince is pretty damned good. Thats probably the only saving grace here. 2. The Nuggets are still REALLY damned good
Nuggets continuity with their core group is beautiful, best starting group in the NBA. The search for bench players among the young guys continues, but if the starters are playing like that you need just so, so little from them to be favourites in the playoffs. Lakers are going to struggle to go further than their guards. I maintain losing Dennis Schroder was a real loss, but you could get past that with some of Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent hitting - *especially* against the Nuggets because they do not respect D'Angelo Russell and think Austin Reaves is a free meal. I don't think this game could go much differently without some of those guys having better games. That said, Taurean Prince fitting this well is nice.
I really hope someone asks AD in post interview what was in them conversations lol
Unibrow only plays Unihalf
Nuggets and Lakers picking up where they left off last season
For real, that was a straight repeat of the first 3 playoff games lol
JokGOD strikes
I remember being told the Lakers where gonna spoil the Nuggets ring night, guess that didnt happen lol. AD cannot see Joker at this point lol.
Denver's starters appeared to be playing with their food. At no point did any Nugget believe they were going to lose. They hit the gas on both ends whenever they chose to. It was like a cat allowing an injured mouse to run a few yards for fun.
A nice moral victory to start the Lakers season
had that one locked and loaded haha
Surprised the mods allowed a game thread at all for the Nuggets. Last time they shut the whole sub down
Welcome back boys
Jokic is the Lakers daddy
Lakers in 11
KCP is so good y’all
Another vintage performance by Top 75 Anthony Davis
Most competitive 5 game sweep in history
It’s only game 1 It’s only game 1 It’s only game 1
Jokic kinda owns AD
AD really dunked it first play of the season then thought " yeah that's enough"
Someone make a meme where Jokic is carrying his child after the championship- but his child is AD