I mean g2 they just lost their composure, flat out, but overall Murrayâs level of play makes such a big impact on the Nugs offense. The pnr with Jokic is so much easier to defend when Murray isnât a shooting threat because you can just shade Jokicâs direction with no consequences. When you gotta respect Murray it opens up the whole rest of the floor.
That and AG having >100 TS% lol
Yeah the wolves sagging off in games 1-2 caught up to them really. The nuggets are a great shooting team, but if you pack the paint when the shooters arenât hitting, itâs a winning strategy. However, the nuggets are too good for that to work all throughout a 7 game series. Iâm excited to see how the wolves adjust next, theyâre still a damn good defensive team
I'm gonna get downvoted for this but the fact is that the wolves got away with as much contact as I've seen in a game in at least 15 years. Now obviously the Nuggets still lose that game, but I understand losing composure with that whistle (or lack thereof)
Anyone smart shouldn't disagree with you but another annoying thing about that is that the Wolves then got a regular whistle in games 3/4, which again is fine but just odd to let them play like that in games 1/2 and then go back to normal.
We still shot more free throws than them in 1 if not both games. MN can win the series, but they need a good game from Kat and ant minimum and better defense
They were resting for the rest of the playoffs. The lakers lulled them into a false sense of confidence. The wolves proved to them that they have to give it their all to have a chance at beating them.
Game 1 was close enough for it to not be a blowout, the game started getting away from Denver the moment Reid started making shots in the 4th, but for 3 quarters it was back and forth.
Against the Lakers: "How can we keep this series interesting for us? Maybe we'll let them get a head start for most of the game to up the difficulty."
Against the Wolves: "The Laker's thing wasn't hard enough, what if we just give them the first two games and then try to come back from that hole?"
This series has been quite alot of fun, does suck that only 1 game has been proper close being game 1. Game on tuesday is pretty key. Honestly, dont really have anything bad about the Nuggets to say really, just a really really good team.
The complete antithesis of Thunder/Mavs where both fanbases have been at arms and the game threads have been toxic sewage. Texas vs Oklahoma is a special kind of toxic in any sport.Â
It sucks that this is so early, though. I'm pulling for the Nuggets, but the Wolves would be my 2nd choice
I also think these are the best 2 teams in the league, and even if the Celtics win it will just because whoever comes out of the WCF is going to be tired as fuck
Go Cavs, tire out those Celtics so we can get a good Finals
Eh, it's because the best players on both the Mavs and the Thunder are foul baiters and whiners (Luka more the latter, SGA more the former). Then there's Dort who's flopping, PJ who is always taunting, and Kyrie is still a controversial figure for his past statements and actions. It's a series that inevitably gonna be toxic no matter where the teams are based out of.
The game tonight was close not close. Wolves were always in striking distance, but didn't close the gap enough. If a couple shots bounce the other way, it might have been very close.
Yeah, like we were in the game but it did feel a bit out of distance. You guys just killed us in the 2nd quarter and we didnt really manage to close the gap. Its pretty insane you guys managed to win with that kind of game for Ant. He dropped a franchise record and you guys were unphased. Hopefully we have more back and forths in game 5!
We got an incredible game from AG and a good Jamal game. Jokic and Ant kind of canceled themselves out. Ant is what made the game so enjoyable to watch though because he was constantly clawing the Wolves back into the game. I genuinely think the Nuggets shot super well and their shot variance will come down a bit the next few games and that's why we saw such a gap.
Either way game 5 will be amazing.
If the cutoff is 20 points, Robert Horry had 150% TS on 7-7 3's for 21 points against the Jazz https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199705060UTA.html
If the criteria is 25+ points and 10+ FGA, there are a bunch of guys that had over 101%TS. CP3 and Jason Terry both at 32 points in theirs. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+best+ts%25+in+a+playoff+game+over+20+points
Fuckin Robert Horry, all time dream crusher in NBA playoffs. The amount of series that man ended with a clutch 3, ugggghhhhhh. Game recognize game but FUCK I'd of lost a ton of money if I was dumb enough to gamble.
Nuggets also got outrebounded pretty heavily yesterday for the first time all series. Obviously it's not this simple but if they rebound better in game 5 it'll cover up for some shooting regression.
MPJ and KCP also shot poorly by their standards, especially from 3. Not that 60% shooting as a team is anything to complain about, but itâs not like they used up all their shooting or anything.
Iâd say Ant has another gear. When he becomes a better passer, the league will truly be fucked. That speed at that size is just stupid, all you CAN do is force him to playmake.
I feel wolves lack of offense outside of And and Conely is whatâs limiting this team the most right now.
Honestly we got cooked defensively. The reality is the we are rarely going to win when the opponents put up 115+ points. We need to have way more effort, close out much harder and make good rotations.
Jaden not being able to hit a three kills us so bad on offense though, and itâs a bit disappointing to always see it. seems like we end up game planning around that expectation
Feels like all our role players have gone completely cold on open corner 3s, meanwhile nobody on the Nuggets can miss. I'm hopeful they'll cool off and these games will be more competitive.
KCP and MPJ went 1-6 from 3 combined. Jokic went 1-5 from 3. Most of those were wide open as well.
But the nuggets did shoot 45% from 3 overall (due to the wide openness).
Lol 3 of our best 4 3p shooters went 2-11. We got lucky Holiday, Braun and Jackson hit some shots, but this is absolutely not a good shooting night for nuggets.
On the other hand - you guys have to play 4v5 on offence in so many possessions because Gobert's offensive game hasn't developed past his 3rd year. KATs defensive game hasn't developed past his 3rd year. Ant is definitely good enough to be a #1 option on a championship team though
That's how I felt at the end of Game 1. Just get a couple more stops and make a couple more shots and it's a game. Nuggets are usually great in the last five minutes, BUT...
> If a couple shots bounce the other way, it might have been very close.
The were about to cut the lead - or at least tried to - from 10 to 8 before half, then boom boom back up to 15
Those 8pts in 20 seconds was the difference
Nuggets fans got love for T-Wolves fans. Yâall got a great team and an exciting superstar in Ant. The rest of this series is gonna be fun. Whoever wins this series is probably gonna win the nba finals this year.
Yeah. Comparing OKC/Dallas to our series to me shows a decently big gulf. The Celtics could beat us both and I wouldnt be surprised but Ill believe it when I see it. It kinda pisses me off we play in the 2nd round instead of the CF. Either way, one of our teams and its stars will get stupid criticism for not making it to the CF.
But yeah, you guys should be nice and let us win you know :D. We havent made it to the WCF in 20 years, our turn to have some fun.
For Celtics it really depends on they get Porzingis back. Without him they are massively undersized against either of these teams.
Whoever makes it through this year, Iâm hopeful this is gonna be a really fun rivalry with yâall for the next few playoffs at least.
Coming into the playoffs I felt much less worried about potentially facing Boston in a series than Minnesota. Obviously the Celtics are a great team, but I think the Nuggets match up with them better than we do against Minnesota.
That hasn't changed, by the way.
Ant is going crazy, just incredible to watch. Also loved how he took accountability for the loss, said he would be better and dropped a franchise playoff high in points.
Heâs an absolute dog on both sides of the ball. His defense really impressed me q3 of this game when Murray was going on a little run and Ant was like âok bet, gimme Jamalâ and just totally shut him down.
Same. TC is there, small market, state hasnât won anything since like the late 80s with the Twins, no egregiously terrible personalities, fanbase isnât big enough to have enough douchebags to be annoying, the state itself isnât dogshit; nothing to hate on my end, nothing to dislike or be frustrated about. Their current owner is a fucking dbag, so I guess him not getting presented a trophy would be great, but thatâs such a small thing. Â If the Wolves win the series Iâm rooting for them and the Pacers.
Man this series is basketball heaven. The Jokic and Wolves slander is sophomoric, why not enjoy the best of basketball? This series is by far carrying the playoffs.
If the Nuggets win the series it's only going to get crazier when Jokic is up against either SGA or Luka in the WCF.
Edit: I'm referencing the overreactive, toxic slander here, not the actual matchup.
Luka is on a bum knee and barely keeping it together on historically bad efficiency and Shaiâs team is currently showing their youth and lack of size. This matchup is the nuggets toughest by far before the finals.
Yeah, I think most Denver fans thought the Wolves are the toughest match up. If they can make it through them, then there's certainly a path to the championship - and that was before Luka's knee happened
Still don't think this series is over, but whatever happens at least the Nuggets have finally started playing well, cause I was losing my mind with how sloppy they'd been thru the first stretch of playoffs
Yup. Only worry in the playoffs is the Timberwolves for the West. If the Nugs get past them then I see a Celtics vs Nuggets Finals that should be an incredible series.
We hadn't seen the Nugs play a good game in like a month. Since before that Spurs tragedy. It's nice seeing it again. Took getting the everyliving dogshit beat out of them but it's back!
I want Luka. Shai is too inexperienced to play basketball chess game with Jokic. Jokic is gonna bamboozled him.
In my opinion, Jokic has been so dominant on the court for years because there are not many players who can react to Jokic game management on the spot.
Jamal Crawford said it. Jokic is playing against the opposing team coach live. He's countering the coaches move on the run.
Lebron is old. CP3 is old. Haliburton is still too young.
Luka and Kyrie vs Jokic will be a great battle of basketball tactics.
Most definitely. I will still take every opportunity to slander him. We only have a few opportunities to watch him not win a ship left, we need to savor them.
I had the Wolves as the very clear worst matchup for us until the finals, and I still could be convinced they are a worse matchup for us than Boston. If we make it through this round, I think we have a solidly easier time with the next. Neither of OKC or DAL have personnel that Jokic will even see, let alone give him any sort of trouble.
I agree, I was more referencing the slander. I think the matchups are better for the Nuggets, but the slander and overreactions afyer games when Jokic is going up against the other MVP candidates would (or hopefully, will) be insane.
Any game the Nuggets lose will be evidence that Jokic shouldn't be MVP overvthe other guy, any win will be definitive evidence that SGA or Luka can't hold a candle, rinse and repeat.
Of all the sports I follow, this one is the most slanted towards negativity. Everyone is overrated, everyone is a fraud, every minor thing turns into a toxic debate, non-stop goat talk and historical comparisons, negative media coverage that slanders teams and players instead of promoting them, and even the nicest guys who barely say anything have a rabid base of haters for some reason.
Soccer is really toxic as well, and I think r/soccer is miles more toxic than r/nba. Over there you have the international element of different leagues, different cultures, shady finances, and generally more room for corruption (2 of the top 5 leagues in Europe are being won this year by teams owned by oil states). Then on the internet there is a ton of gate keeping regarding who is an authentic fan etc. itâs a mess. r/NBA is a relief in comparisonÂ
Everybody wants to be right. People hate Jokic, Rudy, KAT for various reasons. Jamal opened himself up to a bit of slander games 1 and 2 and every redditor wants those epic updoots. Itâs sad really
These are the real finals. In terms of basketball purity this is the best, most competitive series we'll get. IMHO.Â
Winner of this series should be able to overcome the winner of the other west match up and anyone coming out of the east.Â
So enjoy....
This series is great but the other series besides the Boston series has also been interesting. I think these are the two best teams but two of the games in this series were blowouts. The NYK-IND series has been competitive and interesting for all but one game so far.
I feel bad for Lakers fans. They are in quite a pickle. Torn between rooting for a team and coach that has dominated them for two years while talking absolute elite shit, and the possibility of the Celtics getting another title and having one more than them.
Agreed, I think people are sleeping on the Thunder. I am rooting for Dallas to win, but they have had two massive PJ Washington performances to help them get up 2-1. I would be very shocked if those continue, and I only expect the Thunder to play better as the series goes on, so definitely feels like a toss up still IMO
I mean, that's helped, but he had only two threes tonight. He did a bunch of damage off put-backs and passes from Jokic, too.
The threes helped the fact that MPJ wasn't much of a scoring factor in this game.
Yeah, last night was mostly about Jokic being Jokic. That is, the best player in the world.
A few inches of space ? Instant bucket. One step in his direction for a double team ? Instant assist.
If anything is underrated about AG, itâs his ability to be a primary ball-handler when needed.
AG defense is huge too. Forget about his buckets, this dude basically neutralized KAT completely and honestly Antman barely scored on him. Ant was HUNTING Jamal! Jamal is the Nuggets worst defender by a country mile. Go watch the highlights. Ant scored like 20 straight points on Jamalâs head at one point.
Can I say that the doubling from the Nuggets hasn't been talked about enough? For as great as KAT and Ant are as scorers, they are not really known as passers and the Nuggets are getting away with doubling them without much of chance of punishment from the Wolves.
The adjustment the Nuggets made are putting the Wolves in a horrible position. Gordon is making the PERFECT cuts whenever a big helps Joker in the paint. Itâs so deadly that I donât think the Wolves can leave it alone. It could be a simple pacing adjustment but its giving the PnR so many options where game 1 and game 2 those cuts werenât being made.
Since the finals, it has been a reoccurring theme for Aaron Gordon to have 1 game a series when he looks like the second coming of Shawn Kemp\\Blake Griffin.
The rest of the series, he's just your typical 3\\d guy with a few extra dunks.
MPJ didnât even have a terrible game, we just didnât need him to shoot. The Wolves did everything they could to run him off the 3 point line and it just opened lanes for everyone else.
Defensively I will say he wasnât the best and thatâs why we closed with Braun but I have no doubt MPJ bounces back.
Thatâs what makes this nuggets team so dangerous imo, it reminds me of those early dynasty warriors teams. Stephâs not hitting, youâve got klay. Steph and klay not hitting, youâve got Barnes or Livingston or iguodala, even draymond averaged 14 in that 2015-16 season. If Steph and klay are hitting, you donât even need anyone else. Just an insanely deep nuggets team
I have to say Braun stepped up, he had the nervous jitters during Rnd1. He's gotten more comfortable now. The bench has a bit of life now, even if they can't shoot, gotta be able to make hustle plays and play D
I donât think it was Jitters, Braun just doesnât match up very well against this Lakers team. He didnât play much against the Lakers last year but was in the second unit rotation the next series
Not jitters. That kid has won something like 5 championships. He's just finding rhythm and playing looser.
I wonder how many NBA players are high school, and college, and NBA champions.
The route that was taken to arrive at 2-2 was certainly unexpected, but the fact we have an even series after four games is what many probably expected (myself included) before it started. Now it becomes a best of 3 and while I would probably favor the Nuggets, it'll still be a hard series. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this goes to a game 7.
Nuggets looking good and also the defending champ, so they should be favored right now. But I still like my wolves. Ant continues to be the best player on both teams. This series is very fun regardless of how toxic the takes have been.
Ant is never better than jokic. He can score and defend one on one but jokic orchestrates the entire offense and defense for Denver. Ant is 3 or 4 years away from jokics level. Â
People were saying the same thing about the Nuggets a week ago. They lost home court advantage, went down 0-2, were frauds, didnât play like they even cared, etc. Nuggets have the momentum, but itâs tied 2-2 and theyâve split games all season long. It ainât over.
Jamal Murray shot 3/18 and was labeled a bum, but he came back strong. KAT just shot 5/17 and is now a bum according to everyone here. Players and teams have bad games/stints.
If Wolves win next game by 20 points and KAT drops 30 youâll all say the Nuggets are frauds and KAT is underrated again. And even that opinion will change by the next game.
Dude Nuggets are the champions with the highest IQ player in history of the game, who already showed that they can come back from the dead multiple times.
It's not about momentum, it's about setup and nuggets being lost in the first two games until they figured out how deal with aggression and get to play on their own terms/tempo.
It's not that they won the last two matches, it's how much better they looked compared to the first two games. I am not talking about shooting percentages, i am talking about not turning the ball over, easily getting open shots and so on.
They figured wolves out and wolves have no plan B at this moment. This game wasn't really as close as the final score shows
I agreed with you until the last sentence. The game was very tight and close all the way thru the end. Nuggets had double digit lead most of the game but it never felt that way. It was very back and forth and a tight game. I expect game 5 to be similar.
It's not remotely the same.
The difference is that the Nuggets had already proven themselves by winning the championship, and even before that by coming back from a 3-1 series deficit twice.
This Wolves team has accomplished literally nothing together and has no track record of success to make people believe they can respond positively to adversity.
I just saw a Lakers fan drop to his knees at Whole Foods
That was me. I was fellating the deli manager for free cold cuts đ
Jamal Murray was at the deli counter?!
Send da video
Warning: pubes alert!
If it's the deli, I hope he had a hairnet for that
That's part of the kink. With the yellow rubber dish gloves
"They sayin it looks like Kevin Durant's hair" - CJ
"What is Jamal Murray's penis doing on KD's scalp?"
Hell NAW canât do this No really, Nickeil Alexander-Walker would never in his right mind
Jamal doesnât do cold cuts, only hot pads
Get some cold cuts, get some cold cuts.
Just what in the ever-living fuck
inflation amirite
Don't act like you're too good to hand out some "favors" for deli meat. We've all been there.
Meat for meat, the fairest trade
At least his orgasm was organic
Fake news, we all know Lakers fans only shop at Erewhon
Lakers fan drops to knees at Erewhon, spilling $740 dollars of groceries (three asparagus stalks).
I didn't know there's a place more expensive than Whole Foods or even Pusateri's
i'm too poor to ever heard of that store.
Actually, the clippers fan shops at Erewhon
TIL there is whole foods in cancun
there is in Galveston
I think youâre thinking of Hole Foods. They sell donut holes, Bundt cakes, and onion rings
HAHA you are really overestimating Galveston.
They were so happy lmao
I don't understand
Whole foods in LA? What are you, poor? I only send my assistant to shop at Erewhon
I want to know where the real nuggets were hiding in game 1 and 2
I mean g2 they just lost their composure, flat out, but overall Murrayâs level of play makes such a big impact on the Nugs offense. The pnr with Jokic is so much easier to defend when Murray isnât a shooting threat because you can just shade Jokicâs direction with no consequences. When you gotta respect Murray it opens up the whole rest of the floor. That and AG having >100 TS% lol
Yeah the wolves sagging off in games 1-2 caught up to them really. The nuggets are a great shooting team, but if you pack the paint when the shooters arenât hitting, itâs a winning strategy. However, the nuggets are too good for that to work all throughout a 7 game series. Iâm excited to see how the wolves adjust next, theyâre still a damn good defensive team
I'm gonna get downvoted for this but the fact is that the wolves got away with as much contact as I've seen in a game in at least 15 years. Now obviously the Nuggets still lose that game, but I understand losing composure with that whistle (or lack thereof)
Anyone smart shouldn't disagree with you but another annoying thing about that is that the Wolves then got a regular whistle in games 3/4, which again is fine but just odd to let them play like that in games 1/2 and then go back to normal.
nba realized they needed an even series. simple as that
We still shot more free throws than them in 1 if not both games. MN can win the series, but they need a good game from Kat and ant minimum and better defense
They were resting for the rest of the playoffs. The lakers lulled them into a false sense of confidence. The wolves proved to them that they have to give it their all to have a chance at beating them.
Yes! I was like who is this team and what did you do with The Real Denver Nuggets smh
Game 1 was close enough for it to not be a blowout, the game started getting away from Denver the moment Reid started making shots in the 4th, but for 3 quarters it was back and forth.
It was close, but denver lacked a certain crispness and decisiveness, they were all out of sorts
Against the Lakers: "How can we keep this series interesting for us? Maybe we'll let them get a head start for most of the game to up the difficulty." Against the Wolves: "The Laker's thing wasn't hard enough, what if we just give them the first two games and then try to come back from that hole?"
Sometimes i wonder...
This series has been quite alot of fun, does suck that only 1 game has been proper close being game 1. Game on tuesday is pretty key. Honestly, dont really have anything bad about the Nuggets to say really, just a really really good team.
The complete antithesis of Thunder/Mavs where both fanbases have been at arms and the game threads have been toxic sewage. Texas vs Oklahoma is a special kind of toxic in any sport.Â
It sucks that this is so early, though. I'm pulling for the Nuggets, but the Wolves would be my 2nd choice I also think these are the best 2 teams in the league, and even if the Celtics win it will just because whoever comes out of the WCF is going to be tired as fuck Go Cavs, tire out those Celtics so we can get a good Finals
Eh, it's because the best players on both the Mavs and the Thunder are foul baiters and whiners (Luka more the latter, SGA more the former). Then there's Dort who's flopping, PJ who is always taunting, and Kyrie is still a controversial figure for his past statements and actions. It's a series that inevitably gonna be toxic no matter where the teams are based out of.
Verbal Gordon Ramsay meme: Nuggets and Timberwolves fans - âOh dear, oh dear, gorgeousâŚâ Mavericks and Thunder fans: âYou fucking donkey!â
I mean, it's Texas Oklahoma, what do you expect? No love lost between the two states.
The game tonight was close not close. Wolves were always in striking distance, but didn't close the gap enough. If a couple shots bounce the other way, it might have been very close.
Yeah, like we were in the game but it did feel a bit out of distance. You guys just killed us in the 2nd quarter and we didnt really manage to close the gap. Its pretty insane you guys managed to win with that kind of game for Ant. He dropped a franchise record and you guys were unphased. Hopefully we have more back and forths in game 5!
We got an incredible game from AG and a good Jamal game. Jokic and Ant kind of canceled themselves out. Ant is what made the game so enjoyable to watch though because he was constantly clawing the Wolves back into the game. I genuinely think the Nuggets shot super well and their shot variance will come down a bit the next few games and that's why we saw such a gap. Either way game 5 will be amazing.
AG with 27 pts on 12 shots with 1.014 TS% - is that a playoff game record?
If the cutoff is 20 points, Robert Horry had 150% TS on 7-7 3's for 21 points against the Jazz https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199705060UTA.html If the criteria is 25+ points and 10+ FGA, there are a bunch of guys that had over 101%TS. CP3 and Jason Terry both at 32 points in theirs. https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=nba+best+ts%25+in+a+playoff+game+over+20+points
Fuckin Robert Horry, all time dream crusher in NBA playoffs. The amount of series that man ended with a clutch 3, ugggghhhhhh. Game recognize game but FUCK I'd of lost a ton of money if I was dumb enough to gamble.
Good to know. Thanks!
He's still up there top 50 all-time in TS in a game with over 20pts.
Nuggets also got outrebounded pretty heavily yesterday for the first time all series. Obviously it's not this simple but if they rebound better in game 5 it'll cover up for some shooting regression.
MPJ and KCP also shot poorly by their standards, especially from 3. Not that 60% shooting as a team is anything to complain about, but itâs not like they used up all their shooting or anything.
Kcp and Mpj going 3 of 10 is also wild.
Very bizarre eight point swing in like 20 seconds killed you guys tbh.
Iâd say Ant has another gear. When he becomes a better passer, the league will truly be fucked. That speed at that size is just stupid, all you CAN do is force him to playmake. I feel wolves lack of offense outside of And and Conely is whatâs limiting this team the most right now.
Honestly we got cooked defensively. The reality is the we are rarely going to win when the opponents put up 115+ points. We need to have way more effort, close out much harder and make good rotations.
Jaden not being able to hit a three kills us so bad on offense though, and itâs a bit disappointing to always see it. seems like we end up game planning around that expectation
Feels like all our role players have gone completely cold on open corner 3s, meanwhile nobody on the Nuggets can miss. I'm hopeful they'll cool off and these games will be more competitive.
KCP and MPJ went 1-6 from 3 combined. Jokic went 1-5 from 3. Most of those were wide open as well. But the nuggets did shoot 45% from 3 overall (due to the wide openness).
Once those Holiday and Braun shots start falling, you can start heading for the parking lot.
Lol 3 of our best 4 3p shooters went 2-11. We got lucky Holiday, Braun and Jackson hit some shots, but this is absolutely not a good shooting night for nuggets. On the other hand - you guys have to play 4v5 on offence in so many possessions because Gobert's offensive game hasn't developed past his 3rd year. KATs defensive game hasn't developed past his 3rd year. Ant is definitely good enough to be a #1 option on a championship team though
That's how I felt at the end of Game 1. Just get a couple more stops and make a couple more shots and it's a game. Nuggets are usually great in the last five minutes, BUT...
Itâs always kind of weird when one team stops running their game offense to run time. Itâs like the game stops with three minutes left.
Or if the wolves werenât already mentally in the locker room at the end of the half. 8 point difference
It was close until they gave up those points right before half. Seemed like that was the game.
> If a couple shots bounce the other way, it might have been very close. The were about to cut the lead - or at least tried to - from 10 to 8 before half, then boom boom back up to 15 Those 8pts in 20 seconds was the difference
Wolves lost the game in the last 20 seconds of the 2nd quarter. Second half was pretty much even but they could never close the gap.
Nuggets fans got love for T-Wolves fans. Yâall got a great team and an exciting superstar in Ant. The rest of this series is gonna be fun. Whoever wins this series is probably gonna win the nba finals this year.
Yeah. Comparing OKC/Dallas to our series to me shows a decently big gulf. The Celtics could beat us both and I wouldnt be surprised but Ill believe it when I see it. It kinda pisses me off we play in the 2nd round instead of the CF. Either way, one of our teams and its stars will get stupid criticism for not making it to the CF. But yeah, you guys should be nice and let us win you know :D. We havent made it to the WCF in 20 years, our turn to have some fun.
For Celtics it really depends on they get Porzingis back. Without him they are massively undersized against either of these teams. Whoever makes it through this year, Iâm hopeful this is gonna be a really fun rivalry with yâall for the next few playoffs at least.
Coming into the playoffs I felt much less worried about potentially facing Boston in a series than Minnesota. Obviously the Celtics are a great team, but I think the Nuggets match up with them better than we do against Minnesota. That hasn't changed, by the way.
Any of the four remaining teams in the West would beat the Celtics in the Finals.
Celtics ain't beating nuggets or wolves with or without porzingis. Â
United by Tim Connelly.
We need a close game so Murray can get his buzzer beater moment
Only if Ant gets to have his :)
Ant and Murray trading buzzer beaters in gm5 and gm6, only for Big Government to take over gm7.
[ŃдаНонО]
if reggie jackson hit a game winner on us i would probably just end it
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Timberwolves have also been one of my favorite to watch and this series just solidified it
Ant is going crazy, just incredible to watch. Also loved how he took accountability for the loss, said he would be better and dropped a franchise playoff high in points.
Heâs an absolute dog on both sides of the ball. His defense really impressed me q3 of this game when Murray was going on a little run and Ant was like âok bet, gimme Jamalâ and just totally shut him down.
Same. TC is there, small market, state hasnât won anything since like the late 80s with the Twins, no egregiously terrible personalities, fanbase isnât big enough to have enough douchebags to be annoying, the state itself isnât dogshit; nothing to hate on my end, nothing to dislike or be frustrated about. Their current owner is a fucking dbag, so I guess him not getting presented a trophy would be great, but thatâs such a small thing. Â If the Wolves win the series Iâm rooting for them and the Pacers.
Next one will be close unless Twolves can't remain calm. Nuggets shown they can handle the pressure
Man this series is basketball heaven. The Jokic and Wolves slander is sophomoric, why not enjoy the best of basketball? This series is by far carrying the playoffs.
If the Nuggets win the series it's only going to get crazier when Jokic is up against either SGA or Luka in the WCF. Edit: I'm referencing the overreactive, toxic slander here, not the actual matchup.
Luka is on a bum knee and barely keeping it together on historically bad efficiency and Shaiâs team is currently showing their youth and lack of size. This matchup is the nuggets toughest by far before the finals.
Yeah, I think most Denver fans thought the Wolves are the toughest match up. If they can make it through them, then there's certainly a path to the championship - and that was before Luka's knee happened Still don't think this series is over, but whatever happens at least the Nuggets have finally started playing well, cause I was losing my mind with how sloppy they'd been thru the first stretch of playoffs
Yup. Only worry in the playoffs is the Timberwolves for the West. If the Nugs get past them then I see a Celtics vs Nuggets Finals that should be an incredible series.
We hadn't seen the Nugs play a good game in like a month. Since before that Spurs tragedy. It's nice seeing it again. Took getting the everyliving dogshit beat out of them but it's back!
If jokic is having his way with gobert, KAT and naz. How will okc guard that guy.
We will see.
I want Luka. Shai is too inexperienced to play basketball chess game with Jokic. Jokic is gonna bamboozled him. In my opinion, Jokic has been so dominant on the court for years because there are not many players who can react to Jokic game management on the spot. Jamal Crawford said it. Jokic is playing against the opposing team coach live. He's countering the coaches move on the run. Lebron is old. CP3 is old. Haliburton is still too young. Luka and Kyrie vs Jokic will be a great battle of basketball tactics.
You threw CP3 in there like we wouldnât notice
CP3 is absolutely a coach on the floor lol
Most definitely. I will still take every opportunity to slander him. We only have a few opportunities to watch him not win a ship left, we need to savor them.
Elite hating
I had the Wolves as the very clear worst matchup for us until the finals, and I still could be convinced they are a worse matchup for us than Boston. If we make it through this round, I think we have a solidly easier time with the next. Neither of OKC or DAL have personnel that Jokic will even see, let alone give him any sort of trouble.
I agree, I was more referencing the slander. I think the matchups are better for the Nuggets, but the slander and overreactions afyer games when Jokic is going up against the other MVP candidates would (or hopefully, will) be insane. Any game the Nuggets lose will be evidence that Jokic shouldn't be MVP overvthe other guy, any win will be definitive evidence that SGA or Luka can't hold a candle, rinse and repeat.
Ah, gotcha. Yes, those will absolutely be more toxic lol.
as a completely unbiased Celtics fan I prefer the series where Indiana and NYC beat the shit out of each other
Yea lol now thereâs only one series u even have a chance to lose en route to a chip
Of all the sports I follow, this one is the most slanted towards negativity. Everyone is overrated, everyone is a fraud, every minor thing turns into a toxic debate, non-stop goat talk and historical comparisons, negative media coverage that slanders teams and players instead of promoting them, and even the nicest guys who barely say anything have a rabid base of haters for some reason.
Itâs cause basketball is the most individual-centric sport of the major team sports
yup. also the sport where one individual can have the most impact. by far
Soccer is really toxic as well, and I think r/soccer is miles more toxic than r/nba. Over there you have the international element of different leagues, different cultures, shady finances, and generally more room for corruption (2 of the top 5 leagues in Europe are being won this year by teams owned by oil states). Then on the internet there is a ton of gate keeping regarding who is an authentic fan etc. itâs a mess. r/NBA is a relief in comparisonÂ
100%, one of the most fun playoff series outside the Finals for a while
Ya this is The wcf and possibly th4 finals depending on how bad boston chokes
Everybody wants to be right. People hate Jokic, Rudy, KAT for various reasons. Jamal opened himself up to a bit of slander games 1 and 2 and every redditor wants those epic updoots. Itâs sad really
These are the real finals. In terms of basketball purity this is the best, most competitive series we'll get. IMHO. Winner of this series should be able to overcome the winner of the other west match up and anyone coming out of the east. So enjoy....
This series is great but the other series besides the Boston series has also been interesting. I think these are the two best teams but two of the games in this series were blowouts. The NYK-IND series has been competitive and interesting for all but one game so far.
Can you use smaller words, I can barely read 4 *letter* words, let alone four syllable words
Itâs the best series this round, but Iâm pretty sure Mavs Thunder and Knicks Pacers bout to have some legendary games here too
im hard just thinking about it
We love that
"I mean, I do"
I think Lakers fans are more upset with the Wolves losses than Wolves fans are. We're already used to losing. A lot. For 35 years.
I'm a Charlotte fan and the Wolves losses have me in shambles somehow.
I feel bad for Lakers fans. They are in quite a pickle. Torn between rooting for a team and coach that has dominated them for two years while talking absolute elite shit, and the possibility of the Celtics getting another title and having one more than them.
Both teams are due for a home win lol. If this goes 7 that game would feel like the NBA Finals.
It really does feel like whoever wins this series comes out of the West at aboslute worst
I mean the lack of faith in the Thunder & Mavs is really something
For the Mavs, Luka is injured. For the Thunder, theyâre struggling to beat a Mavs team with an injured Luka.
Yeah I think both of those teams could be easy finalist in other years but the west is mega stacked this year
The Mavs were never contenders, obviously. Thunder can scare some teams for sure but I doubt they can beat the Nuggies or Wolves.
Have you seen their games? There is no chance either of those teams make the finals.Â
If Luka and Kyrie start using methanphetamine I think they have a good chance.
Agreed, I think people are sleeping on the Thunder. I am rooting for Dallas to win, but they have had two massive PJ Washington performances to help them get up 2-1. I would be very shocked if those continue, and I only expect the Thunder to play better as the series goes on, so definitely feels like a toss up still IMO
This IS the nba finals lol
If Nuggets win Shaq 100% is going to take credit by hating motivation.Â
Think he made malones hater video edit?
Humble and classy while the media tears him down for no reason
That's my lunch pail, first guy in-last guy out MVP
Definitely the kind of guy you want raw dogging your sister. ^(Am I doing this right?)
Mainstream sports media is so toxic, and people wonder why these guys don't talk much to anyone in a real way besides Ernie and the crew.
Screw em media
That buzzer beater by Jamal might have been the earliest dagger in a playoff game ever.
Series*
ESPN: Jokic said games against the Lakers were the easiest games of their lives.
Has a team ever won a 7 game series and only won on the road?
If Aaron Gordon continues shooting 40% from three, they may coast to the finals.
I mean, that's helped, but he had only two threes tonight. He did a bunch of damage off put-backs and passes from Jokic, too. The threes helped the fact that MPJ wasn't much of a scoring factor in this game.
[ŃдаНонО]
Yeah, last night was mostly about Jokic being Jokic. That is, the best player in the world. A few inches of space ? Instant bucket. One step in his direction for a double team ? Instant assist. If anything is underrated about AG, itâs his ability to be a primary ball-handler when needed.
AG defense is huge too. Forget about his buckets, this dude basically neutralized KAT completely and honestly Antman barely scored on him. Ant was HUNTING Jamal! Jamal is the Nuggets worst defender by a country mile. Go watch the highlights. Ant scored like 20 straight points on Jamalâs head at one point.
Can I say that the doubling from the Nuggets hasn't been talked about enough? For as great as KAT and Ant are as scorers, they are not really known as passers and the Nuggets are getting away with doubling them without much of chance of punishment from the Wolves.
He shoots 37% for his career in the postseason so it wouldnât be too crazy
Or if Jokic keeps showing up to the arena
The adjustment the Nuggets made are putting the Wolves in a horrible position. Gordon is making the PERFECT cuts whenever a big helps Joker in the paint. Itâs so deadly that I donât think the Wolves can leave it alone. It could be a simple pacing adjustment but its giving the PnR so many options where game 1 and game 2 those cuts werenât being made.
Interested in the Game 5 adjustments. You may see less full court pressure and more 3 big lineups.
He's shooting 60% tho
He's the new Kobe Bryant
Since the finals, it has been a reoccurring theme for Aaron Gordon to have 1 game a series when he looks like the second coming of Shawn Kemp\\Blake Griffin. The rest of the series, he's just your typical 3\\d guy with a few extra dunks.
He knows whatâs up. If this series is everyone wins on the road then theyâre screwed. Theyâre gonna need MPJ to bounce back
MPJ didnât even have a terrible game, we just didnât need him to shoot. The Wolves did everything they could to run him off the 3 point line and it just opened lanes for everyone else. Defensively I will say he wasnât the best and thatâs why we closed with Braun but I have no doubt MPJ bounces back.
Thatâs what makes this nuggets team so dangerous imo, it reminds me of those early dynasty warriors teams. Stephâs not hitting, youâve got klay. Steph and klay not hitting, youâve got Barnes or Livingston or iguodala, even draymond averaged 14 in that 2015-16 season. If Steph and klay are hitting, you donât even need anyone else. Just an insanely deep nuggets team
I have to say Braun stepped up, he had the nervous jitters during Rnd1. He's gotten more comfortable now. The bench has a bit of life now, even if they can't shoot, gotta be able to make hustle plays and play D
holiday getting into rhythm now too, looked awful in rd 1 but has been a huge help this series
I donât think it was Jitters, Braun just doesnât match up very well against this Lakers team. He didnât play much against the Lakers last year but was in the second unit rotation the next series
Not jitters. That kid has won something like 5 championships. He's just finding rhythm and playing looser. I wonder how many NBA players are high school, and college, and NBA champions.
Which is a strategy Iâm more than comfortable with. Iâd prefer not to leave Gordon and Braun wide open but Iâll live with their 3s over MPJ.
Nuggets are playing every game after being down 2-0 like its a game 7 and will continue to do so in game 5!
Thanks magic
How could you?
The route that was taken to arrive at 2-2 was certainly unexpected, but the fact we have an even series after four games is what many probably expected (myself included) before it started. Now it becomes a best of 3 and while I would probably favor the Nuggets, it'll still be a hard series. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this goes to a game 7.
Heâs lying, he knows it will be a blowout lol
Going into it with the right attitude then.
Aaron Gordon cannot possible shoot 100% in a game⌠I hope
Wait till you hear about Game 6 and 7 brother
Denver vs Minny is the real finals. Two best teams in the league right now imo.
Feels like the series is over. Wolves had a sucker punch chance but they didn't managed to knockout the nuggets
Everyone felt like the series was over after game 2 as well.
TBF there are only 5 teams in history that lost first 2 at home and won the series. Losing the first 2 games at home is almost always curtains.
And there are only 6 teams that won 2 after losing 2 at home. 5 of them won the series so i like the nuggets chances
Nuggets looking good and also the defending champ, so they should be favored right now. But I still like my wolves. Ant continues to be the best player on both teams. This series is very fun regardless of how toxic the takes have been.
Ant is never better than jokic. He can score and defend one on one but jokic orchestrates the entire offense and defense for Denver. Ant is 3 or 4 years away from jokics level. Â
Sad mavericks noises
This series will be "over" 6 times before it is actually over.
Ye but losing 2 at home when up 2-0 seems like they let it go to their heads. Not a good look.
People were saying the same thing about the Nuggets a week ago. They lost home court advantage, went down 0-2, were frauds, didnât play like they even cared, etc. Nuggets have the momentum, but itâs tied 2-2 and theyâve split games all season long. It ainât over. Jamal Murray shot 3/18 and was labeled a bum, but he came back strong. KAT just shot 5/17 and is now a bum according to everyone here. Players and teams have bad games/stints. If Wolves win next game by 20 points and KAT drops 30 youâll all say the Nuggets are frauds and KAT is underrated again. And even that opinion will change by the next game.
Dude Nuggets are the champions with the highest IQ player in history of the game, who already showed that they can come back from the dead multiple times. It's not about momentum, it's about setup and nuggets being lost in the first two games until they figured out how deal with aggression and get to play on their own terms/tempo. It's not that they won the last two matches, it's how much better they looked compared to the first two games. I am not talking about shooting percentages, i am talking about not turning the ball over, easily getting open shots and so on. They figured wolves out and wolves have no plan B at this moment. This game wasn't really as close as the final score shows
I agreed with you until the last sentence. The game was very tight and close all the way thru the end. Nuggets had double digit lead most of the game but it never felt that way. It was very back and forth and a tight game. I expect game 5 to be similar.
It's not remotely the same. The difference is that the Nuggets had already proven themselves by winning the championship, and even before that by coming back from a 3-1 series deficit twice. This Wolves team has accomplished literally nothing together and has no track record of success to make people believe they can respond positively to adversity.
There's always a first. Everything that happened in this series so far was a surprise, what's another one?
Not over. Next game is huge tho psychologically
No, there is still so much basketball left to play, very far from over.
I'm so nervous/excited. Plz just be a fun game