Game 3 vs Denver , on 5/10, joker set a screen on NAW, not sure what part of the game it was. NAW could hardly take off his jersey post according to Hine because his shoulder was fucked up
https://x.com/christopherhine/status/1789165740093747348?s=46&t=7GFIUQXrPTaYozceZlATTw
Since that game, his minutes almost cut in half from 25-30 MPG to 15-20 vs Dallas, his disappearance had to be tied to this incident, no? Or else he would’ve been guarding Kyrie way more often
This incident wasn’t really brought up at all when it happened and the rest of the playoffs but the stats are night and day. He’s not a flame thrower 3PT shooter but he’ll go off for 2-5 any game and his % dropped about 7-8%
by yourloudneighbor
2 Comments
I don’t know why this wasn’t brought up. Clearly this was the turning point for his post season
I don’t think the guys are ever going to talk about it because a lot of players are nursing one thing and another by the conference finals, but Ant never looked the same after the fall, NAW never looked the same after hurting his shoulder and Conley was very likely not 100% either after hurting his calf. Also let’s not forget Kat hurting his surgically repaired knee twice in Denver and playing through it. None of this was on the injury report because every guy was going to play but doesn’t mean they weren’t struggling through it. Luka dragged himself through his injuries, so fair play to him.
I’m not making any excuses but it’s in the realm of possibility that injuries could have made this team look like a shell of its former self against Dallas. The Nuggets series really put them through the fire.