FIRST TAKE | “Nikola Jokic suffocated against Kevin Durant” – Stephen A SHOCKED Nuggets lose to Suns
But Oklahoma City suns in the eighth spot but in a virtual tie with the Kings so important game for both teams Jamal Murray did not play was out with an ankle injury pick it up early third quarter Suns up by eight Nico yic his pass deflected by Grayson Allen into the
Hands of Devin Booker and then Kevin Durant reversing it put the Suns up 10 next Suns possession Durant he was three for four for three Suns hit 16 of their 33 threes as a team they’re up 13 under 6 minutes to go in the third nuggets
Down nine jokic he was just one for five from three Denver 10 for 40 as a team six-point game and then yic goes through his Defender bucket and the foul made the free throw cut it to three jic 22 points 10 assists nine rebounds but Durant responds immediately to put
Phoenix back up five he was 12 for 20 from the floor Eric Gordon chipped in 10 Off the Bench and the Sun’s Up 11 and Michael bone not happy with what he’s seeing under 6 minutes to go in the fourth could the Suns make it stick
Durant says yes off the feed from Booker Devin Booker nine assist to go the 17 points and then Durant closing the door 30 points 13 rebounds and five blocks and the Suns an impressive win 104 to 97 in Denver uh both I mean it’s the offensive rebounding has been uh by far our
Achilles heel since the All-Star break I think we’re 29th in uh Second Chance points allowed and against that team they don’t miss very often so when they do miss you have to secure the rebound to give yourself a chance on the other end um then obviously the three-point
Shooting as you mentioned you know they make 16 we go 10 to 40 I thought it had a ton of Great Looks That just didn’t go down for us uh but I thought the defense was much better in the second half I think they shot 42 in the second half
Fourth quarter I thought it was outstanding they shot 38% only 21 points in that quarter um but yeah I mean uh to your point you get a rebounded by 13 so they dominate The Glass they they have scores by 18 from the three-point line but then little things like transition opportunity we
Were one one for eight in transition opportunities tonight we got to convert we got to score we got to generate free throws we got to do something you can’t leave seven possessions in transition unaccounted for uh we were five of 10 on offensive rebounds you know I mean so
There were points to be had uh that could have helped us while we were struggling to make shots but uh it’s I know I’m not answering the question but I think both of those Matt the rebounding and uh obviously the inability to guard the three all right you heard one coach’s
Perspective now let’s get another here’s Frank vogle at the podium I like our depth chart you know that that shouldn’t change but you know we have he’s different you know that’s why we went out we didn’t go out and get just another guy that’s that’s the same
As as Drew and nerk you know we went out and got somebody that has a little bit of a different Dynamic and you know I think uh in a next-man upsetting like this I think it it helps but you know if you get into a playoff series where
There’s certain matchup that we’re we’re struggling against you know you have somebody that can you know just give a different element to our attack so uh we’re excited to have him avability all right this is Kevin Durant’s 26 30-point game this season the fourth most in the season in Sun’s history he’s
Just two away from tying Devin Booker for second and three away from matching Amari stm’s son’s record piston visiting the Timberwolves third quarter Minnesota down two Anthony Edwards would struggle a bit four of 11 from the field he had just nine points fewest points at a game since January
31st against the Mavs timber wolves tied at 60 Edwards short on the jumper here Jaden McDaniels will get the rebound the pump fake and gets the basket to fall for two McDaniels had 20 points and Minnesota had a two-point lead Minnesota was up 7566 here Rudy goar with a no
Look pass to nille Alexander Walker and he’s going to drain the three he had all day to do that T’s up 12 fourth quarter Minnesota had an 11-point lead Alexander Walker he can’t connect on the three but goar is there with a rebound and gets the and one finish
Rudy goar 11 points 14 boards four assists Minnesota would win the 50th win this season for the t-wolves so yeah it was a big win for the t- rolls as the nuggets and thunder both lose on Wednesday so that puts Minnesota just a half game back in the race for the west
Denver has the easiest remaining schedule of the bunch while the Thunder have the toughest boost but at the end of the day it’s that guy right there Nica yic they have the best player on the floor with the best Supporting Cast that is tailored to his needs I mean
Watching the game joic can get it from the perimeter he’ll get into on ball actions he’ll find someone open and and and then you go to the inside the paint I mean right there he’s back down and just when you feel like okay I’m going
To send help he’ll throw a lob as you see there to Aaron Gord who had 16 really crucial baskets or he’ll just finish you know with the right hand or the left he can’t be stopped on the inside he can’t stop finding his teammates like this is a team that is
The best in the NBA the Denver Nuggets even though the Celtics are are doing I would say 99% of everything to put themselves in the position to rival them right now it’s the Nuggets Wendy I have no doubt that you probably feel the same way knowing you um who’s the team you
Give the best chance to beat Denver at this point because clearly after beating the best team in the NBA supposedly which is the Boston Celtics sweeping them in this series we’ve got to look at the Denver Nuggets as the favorites who do you see as the biggest threat to
Them I think it’s definitely Boston I I think at full power Minnesota is interesting I don’t think that they have quite enough I would like to see that series with Carl towns healthy I don’t know if we’ll get it um I do think Boston and there’s a couple of reasons
One Boston I believe is going to end up having homecourt advantage against anybody in the west they’ve got a six-game lead over Denver right now even though Denver has the tie break now I don’t think they’re going to lose that lead so Denver is almost unbeatable at
Home they did lose at home earlier this week to Phoenix in overtime but they’re very hard to be at home they were Untouchable at home in the playoffs last year other than when Miami got him in the one game in the finals so a series in this in this matchup would start in
Boston and on the road Denver is just a little bit less potent now they are so they stress you out so much defensively the other thing is joic and this is this is a feather in his MVP case yic called on his team at the All-Star break I think he sent a
Group-wide text message and my guess is he’s not that active on the group text on the team but I don’t know for sure but my guess is he’s not that active he sent a group message basically imploring his team let’s get it going and they’ve been almost Untouchable since they came
Back from the break and I kind of think that that would start to show up in Road games but I do think that you have a little bit of an edge on them if you can get with a homecourt advantage and Boston would have that Stephen A if this
Was a seven game series and last night was game one would still like Boston’s chances because I think that there were some matchup things that they found they used Drew holiday as a defender on jic in the fourth quarter and they had a little bit of success they were able to
Get some stops they used porzingis they brought some double teams they were very effective in limiting the nuggets from three-point range also the Nuggets bench played better than they usually do I feel like this would be a six or seven game series and if you had home court
Maybe you get them Wendy I can’t believe I have to say this to you cuz I love you did you know that don’t ever take that long again on International women’s day I mean you taking time away from Jan you understand what I’m saying Chan go ahead
When when about a minute or two too long Wendy let’s really back go ahead Shan go ahead look I agree with you that Boston probably has the best home court in the NBA based off what we’ve seen this season we’ve seen I mean we we’re coming
Off of not too long ago I know people remember the Cavs and people remember the Nuggets but I know people should remember also the Golden State Warriors yes the Warriors are not the Warriors of three or two even so years ago but still they have a very potent home court which
You’re right that could be the equalizer but what I will say is this the nuggets have wins twice against Boston OKC they’ve beaten the Clippers and you’re looking at when they show up in those games how do they handle it they’ve handled the Celtics twice now maybe and
And I learned this from Becky Hammond yesterday we asked the question when you’re going into a an NBA Finals you know matchup she says that Co coaches don’t really necessarily show all of their cards maybe that’s what’s happening with the Celtics they’re Experimenting for spee fore for for for all for e for say more J ch I’me
FIRST TAKE | “Nikola Jokic suffocated against Kevin Durant” – Stephen A SHOCKED Nuggets lose to Suns
1 Comment
What’s with the 45° screen?