“Aaron Gordon ALWAYS saving the Denver” – NBA Gametime on Nikola Jokic & Nuggets beat Thunder in G3

“Aaron Gordon ALWAYS saving the Denver” – NBA Gametime on Nikola Jokic & Nuggets beat Thunder in G3

now have four wins at home this postseason. Welcome to Playoff Central Live presented by State Farm. That’s the Hall of Famer Vince Carter. That’s the champion Udonis Hasslam. I’m Chris Miles and guys, we got the extra session and it was all Denver in a game that was so tight throughout which we had 13 lead changes, 12 ties. How did Denver dominate the extra session? I think it was Denver’s experience. I think in the fourth quarter they had been there before. They experienced that pain, no those sleepless nights. They have been in a situation where the only option is to win and um I think their experience just showed down the stretch. They put it together. They made the run at the end of the first at the end of the fourth quarter and then they continued that run, you know, throughout the overtime. I will say and I think we talked about this. Jaylen was cooking in the fourth quarter. He was the guy that had it going in the fourth quarter. And I understand SGA is your best player, but he was five for eight in the fourth quarter. 16 points. I think that last shot he had ISO at the top of the key. They were crowding SGA every time he got the ball, bringing weak side help. I think Jaylen would have had a better chance of getting a an easier shot just on his own by right there. And he’s been creating his own shot. On other side, I think Aaron Gordon, you mentioned him earlier, just understanding his role, making the game easier for the stars. I mean, you know, when Joic gets the ball, he’s going to demand a crowd. Likewise with Jamal Murray. But those guys are willing or willing passers. They’re superstars. and talking about willing passers and he’s been shooting lights out and they put the ball in his hands and he was ready to shoot. Zero hesitation. Like you said, they’ve been there before. You said it earlier, not their best player, but their most important player. In their wins, he averages 21 points per game. In their losses, 12 points per game, 22 tonight, including four for six from long range. I am speaking from experience. I have seen it in the finals. I have seen him guard Jimmy Butler. I have seen him go down on the other end and make timely shots. Listen, the scout report of Aaron Gordon not being able to shoot or whatever it was when he first came in the league, that is gone. That is How does he keep getting open? How does he keep getting open? It needs to be orange alert when the ball hits his hands on the perimeters. Make him drive, pull triggers, rotate, try to get an offensive foul, see if he can make a play for somebody else. But at this point, we cannot see Aaron Gordon keep making cut shots wide open with from the three-point range. We just can’t keep happening. But that leads to what you know what Jokicage and the and Jamal demand. They demand attention then get into the paint and create for others and that’s I mean you don’t you don’t see Aaron Gordon now electing to dive when somebody dropping because he doesn’t feel comfortable shooting three. No he just go ahead you better go help and he’s waiting for that three catching shooting zero hesitation. Yeah careerhigh 44% from long range Aaron Gordon this season first 10 years just 32% from outside. Uh looking at Michael Porter Jr. You talk about getting the dagger back. You ready for your stats? The the first two games of this series just 10 points. Three for 18 from the field, two for 11 from three-point range. This one five for six from long range, 21 points. But UD, he looked confident every time he let it fly. Even in the games where he didn’t shoot the ball well, he got to the glass, he rebounded, he defended to the best of his ability. He’s one of those guys who we talk about he’s an ignitable guy. You don’t worry about how many he misses because you know once he gets it going he can run off four, five, six, seven for your team. It only makes it easy like Vince said for Jamal and for Joker down there when those guys get it going to get him going though in the first quarter it was intentional by David Adam and running sets for Michael Porter Jr. starting off five for five it felt like okay for us to win the Denver Nuggets were like we got to get him going. also with your your teammates. You your teammates understand how important he is. So they come off plays and you they run flare screens for him. He was catching and firing. So they they empowered him. You can tell the way he came out shooting that they said, “No, no, no, no. You’re not hesitating. You shoot the ball because even if he’s not making shots, you have to guard him behind that line with with the fear of he will make a few and open the floor up. There’s no one you fear more than the two MVP candidates in this and clearly both teams had a g game plan that they executed well. Uh Nicole 0 for 10 from outside, eight for 25 from the field. But Shay Gilis Alexander, this is a guy that is 72 consecutive regular season games with 20 or more. He had 18 points, seven for 22 from the field. Vince, what is it about Denver’s defense that limited Shay Gilis Alexander to not only just 18 points, but only uh actually no shot attempts in overtime? Just the helpside defense. I mean, just you have to just continue to compete against him. He’s going he’s a great player. He’s up for the MVP. A lot of people feel he should be MVP. So, yes, he’s going to get buckets, but you have to stay in the fight and continue to contest. You just see here, look at multiple bodies around him. Every time he gets in the paint, he can’t just get a free shot. Every shot must be contested if whether you’re in the play or not. You can’t give a great player a warm-up shot seeing it go in. You have to give give him a consistent you can’t give him a consistent dose of the same thing. Like I said earlier, great players tend to figure you out when you play me the same way. They’re going to eat you alive. And you starting to see oneonone he started to to to take Jamal off the off the dribble. What did we see in the fourth quarter? and late in well late in the fourth quarter they started putting multiple bodies on him. Now you’re not playing one-on-one basketball. You’re going to have to pass to someone else or take a tough contested shot. And I think it was the the strategy of Denver because oftent times and you can attest to this cuz you got trapped more than me. It’s not how you trap, it’s when you trap. And they brought the trap from the blind side when he wasn’t looking. So every time he thought he had oneonone and he felt like he had a comfortable shot, there was somebody coming and making him uncomfortable. And that also throws off your timing as a scorer. So when you do get an open shot, you’re rushing it. You’re not comfortable. You’re not in rhythm. They did a great job defensively tonight. You see it there. Just multiple bodies. Two guys. Just standing there at the elbow. There’s nowhere for him to go but to take that pullup. Right now they So come off the pick and roll. Look, two guys on him. And you have Jamal Murray shrinking from the top. There’s multiple bodies. Look, that is very uncomfortable when you’re a scorer. I know about it from the defensive end cuz I like to make guys uncomfortable. But Vince can talk about it from the offensive end how uncomfortable. Look at Braun. Look at Braun. He’s not even guarding Luke Door. not even guarding. We’re going to make you uncomfortable for 48 minutes and see how you can play with bodies and pay without no space. You know, there’s a key point that UD just said there is like he’s not they’re not even guarding Lord or they’re not guarding other players. You got to give credit to Jaylen Williams what he was able to do. Like you said, 16 in the fourth, 32 points. Vince, in lateg game situations though, you would have liked to see him a little bit more aggressive when it mattered most when we’re coming down. Well, we both said the same thing. We both turned and said at the end of the game, yes, they ran the play for for Shay. I get it, MVP. But who’s having the hot hand right now and the one-on-one matchup? Late in the game, it became one-on-one matchup. And he was able to get to his spot, get into the paint, create or score at will. He I mean, you see here, he’s whoever’s in front of him, whether it’s shooting the three or getting in the paint, he was getting there at will and getting to his spot and scoring and he was cooking. So, I I would have liked to have seen that and I get it. You at the end of the day, you have a a superstar in and Chay, you you give him the ball, but at the same time, I I would have liked to see him go one-on-one right there. Yeah. And I think that’s one of those things as a coach that if you don’t give the ball to Shay and then Jaylen doesn’t make the shot, everybody saying, “Why didn’t you give the ball to SGA?” But everybody don’t know basketball. Everybody don’t know basketball. You go with the hot hand right there. And I understand you have like you said and he’s your super he’s your second he can cook so let him cook. All right. Well the Oklahoma City Thunder they cooked on the glass. They cooked all game, but in the end they got cooked in OT by the Denver. video. [Applause] Speech. Speech. Speech. [Music] Speech. Speech. Speech. [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] But she [Applause] I got Exactly. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign [Applause] speech. foreign tomato. [Applause] Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. I’m going to turn on top. Let me [Music] That’s crazy. Please leave. Guess where I am. No, no, no. Thank you.

“Aaron Gordon ALWAYS saving the Denver” – NBA Gametime on Nikola Jokic & Nuggets beat Thunder in G3

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