₦airaland Forum

larride:
They have figured out Wolves defense if the last 2 games is anything to go by and Wolves offense cant keep up with Nugget offense.

I saw a stat somewhere ESPN I think. Nuggets are now the 7th team to tie a series after losing their first two games at home.

5 of the 6 previous teams went on to win the series. Make of that what you will

If you win this game Nuggets you have to realize Game 5 is your Game 7. You don't wanna go back to Minny down 3-2.

You have the chance to pull off a Joseph Stalin Operation Barbarossa type comeback. Don't blow it

The way this team executes late in games is so beautiful. Pure art

See how Jokic sent Conley and Gobert to go and buy cigar on one of those drives

And who will tell McDaniels this him yeye full court press don cast

I need to slander this Denver bench more often.

Roland17:
Why did Gordon give that up? He was under the rim

The last person I expected to pass up that dunk. He's been dumping on their heads all night

Trade Jamal Murray una.

Jokic in foul trouble

MPJ playing scared. What's up with that??

Three straight 3s for Minny

larride:
Make A40 just hear any trade Jamal Murray here again and fight fit happen.

Jamal is really like that. I'm tired of telling these niggas.

6 assists. And the importance of that dagger 3. Minny had cut the deficit down to 7 now it's 15. In 20 seconds

larride:
Nuggets are in control of this series now.

KAT ghosting when he's needed most.

They've figured something out. It helps that Minny has been shooting hellafied bricks too.

The offense is just much smoother and mixing up who brings the ball up has helped a lot.

This is the Nuggets I recognize from last season not whoever I've been watching their first 7 games

Murray with the buzzer beater 3.

Back to 15 pt lead

Nuggets have been extremely sloppy. They should be out of sight by now

greypencils:
Cade is overrated. Number 1 for nothing.

1000%. Not sold on him at all

Gobert is food

26-4 run is crazy

Roland17:
He has picked up since the last game. E be like say e read your post about him. lol..

Tough love is necessary sometimes

Holiday. Again

And suddenly the Timberwolves are bricking everything. Boy oh boy. Basketball is one funny game

15 pt lead

Holiday been spamming some very nice 3s. Who knew?

Khanben:
MPJ is very important for them, but of their 4 mainstays he is the one IMHO that can be replaced at a cheaper price. As for Aaron Gordon he his already underpaid, so there is no way in hell he his taking a paycut.

You're right. MPJ is the most easily replaceable of them all.

Aaron Gordon is just a swiss army knife. The way he's toggling from KAT to Ant man is phenomenal

Twolves been missing a lot of buckets

Very useful minutes from Reggie Jackson

KAT 0/7

Hmmm. Seems Denver has figured out something.

Khanben:
I agree with you that the Nuggets need a playable backup for Jokic and a Bruce brown type wing. The thing is because of their salary cap issue, the GM clearly stated that they are using this season to see if their draft picks can step up to these roles. I personally think the guy they should move is MPJ, he is way overpaid for a shooter/rebounder, with him off their books that can easily afford his replacement, plus a backup for Jokic, and someone else who can create shots for themselves like Bruce brown could, especially in that system they run.

Exactly. Imagine they had a Daniel Gafford. Just 15 minutes off the bench to give Jokic breathers. And energize the rest of the team. Not having a playable backup big while they extended Nnaji who clearly can't play and DeAndre who's too old to play consistently is definitely malpractice

Mind you they extended Reggie Jackson who was a non factor in last season's title run. He was just there for vibes

They clearly paid too early for MPJ but he's definitely been crucial to them this year. He hasn't expanded his game though but we can't downplay his improved availability and consistency

2025 will be the judgement year for the Nuggets. Murray, Aaron Gordon someone will need to take a paycut. KCP will have a player option, I think they can let him walk

kendrick9:
Let's see how this series goes.
You're talking bench, I'm thinking much bigger.
I'm thinking ways the Nuggets could dominate and utilize the peak years of the Joker.
They can still get backups and still upgrade on Jamal.
I'm talking Jamal cause he has a nice trade value than someone like KCP.
He's also injury prone.

The Warriors stood still when they could have traded Klay and Draymond and now look where they are.

Who's the last repeat champion and how many years ago was that. I'll wait.

If it was left to you I'm sure you would have traded MPJ last season.

Nothing consign you with fit and chemistry everything is trade trade trade

When Milwaukee traded for Dame I'm sure they also thought they were upgrading, now look at the results

Trading Jamal would be silly. Nobody remotely knowledgeable about basketball would even be saying this

Are you comparing 33 year old Klay and Draymond to 27 year Jamal just entering his prime?? Wtf??

A 27 year old dude that did 26-6-7 last season to win a championship is who this man is asking to be traded.

Thank God you no be GM. Nuggets fans will do you like Italians did Mussolini

SmooshCHN:
Just like that? Warriors should just trade Klay for Wemby too.

He needs to unplug that 2k man you just know he's a casual fan

kendrick9:
I was referencing Joker playing every game and not just playing but going hard every game in the regular season Because his 2nd option is inconsistent in the regular season and thinks he can just turn it on in the playoffs.
In the process the franchise player comes into the playoffs exhausted where if his team were good, they could have rested him in a couple of games.
Nuggets can't keep relying on playoff Murray who as we're seeing this post season has taken his regular season form into this playoffs.
You can't just switch and turn it on, it's not sustainable in the long run imo.
Case in point Butler and Miami this season.
For me I see a pathway Nuggets could improve, trading Jamal and getting a Mitchell for example would be a shrewd move

Going hard? Joker?

I swear I'm not even trying to be condescending. You don't know what you're talking about.

Jokic's game is more cerebral than exertion. Let's start there. Also because he's really a pass first guy he don't get beat up like most other bigs. Last season Jokic took just 14 shots a game.

Let me address the second bit of lamba you posted

2022/2023
65 games. 20-4-6

2023/2024
59 games. 21-4-6

That is someone you're calling inconsistent in the regular season. Are you hearing yourself at all?

He has played more games over the last two seasons than Devin Booker.

Tell the Nuggets GM to get a decent backup for Jokic and stop this nonsense anti Murray agenda that is founded in Illogic.

Nuggets can rely on Murray. He has proven himself times without number for the Nuggets winning two games at the death for his team this season. Even SGA can't boast of this.
The switch is not on or off, it's the playoffs!! Matchups matter, the other team is trying to win as well

Jimmy Butler is 35 almost 8 years older than Murray. Your examples are horrific

The Nuggets pathway for improvement is a better bench and a competent backup at center for Jokic. Mitchell was there last season when the Knicks gentleman swept them with homecourt.

SmooshCHN:
The Mavs-Thunder game was so physical it almost felt like I was watching the wrong league. What's impressive is how Luka has managed to escape Lu Dort's attempt at his life this series.

That Luguentz Dort wey be like Linebacker. That nigga might have taken years off Luka's life

That's why I keep laughing at all this skills talk. When prison ball enter we will see how skilled you are.

kendrick9:
You can't be shooting 37% from the field and then go on to score buzzer beaters.
If you were doing your job efficiently, there will be no need hoping to beat the sound every time.
It's just not sustainable in the long run

I have to ask. When did you start following basketball? Specifically playoff basketball because clearly you don't seem to grasp how closely these matchups usually are and the fact that games between evenly matched opponents usually don't end in blowouts

What's the difference between your free throw merchant SGA shooting 43% today and Murray's 37%?

Oya since he was more efficient why was he not in position to score these buzzer beaters that you keep trying to cheapen. Why is he still losing? In fact since you're such an efficiency geek explain how SGA did not lose his team today's game, he was the least efficient of the teams top 4 scorers so you can't even blame his teammates

kendrick9:
Last season is the past, we're talking now
and there are legitimate concerns about Jamal no matter how you try to deny it.
Check out the regular season where the Nuggets have to play Jokic without a rest because the Joker has to carry the team during the regular season. Jamal lacks the consistency and I will keep emphasizing on this, if he was he would be making All NBA teams
Jokic is the only MVP NBA champion in history that hasn't played with any All Star/NBA teammates.
And sure Booker is better than Jamal.
Mitchell might be available this off season and he's comfortably on another level to Jamal.

These concerns are silly cos first and foremost the playoffs are high pressure cooker situations. There's nobody that's ever not had a bad series

The Nuggets play Jokic to have a good playoff seeding and homecourt advantage, Jokic's availability is why he's won 3 MVPs ar 29 so I don't know why you're saying it like it's a bad thing.

Jamal Murray's playoff ceiling is higher than any second option in the league so whatever you keep emphasizing is really irrelevant. Since he became an elite talent in this league they've been contenders.

Anybody that watches Jamal Murray play and is still talking about All/star and All NBA talk doesn't have a clue cos I just want to know how Jokic wins without Murray's 26-6-7 over 20 playoff games

Devin Booker? Lmaoo. Didn't he score 12 pts in the elimination game they faced against Murray's team? Please don't chat to me about someone that couldn't avoid a sweep with two Allstar/All NBA teammates this year. That's never happened to Jamal

Another level una. Same Mitchell? Didn't he blow a 3-1 lead vs Murray? Didn't Murray drop 42 and 50 and averaged 31pts in the series to lead the comeback to knockout Mitchell and the Jazz??

There's nobody better suited to be Jokic's wingman than Murray. The proof is in the results. And if the others are better they would have shown it by now

Don't worry shebi when your SGA gets sent packing we will hear word at last

They're doing Hack a Lively

chic2pimp:
Nah bro this dudes have gotten their two bad games out of the way already so it's only up from here. Gordon might not but with his experience, I expect him, MPJ and KCP to outplay their Wolves counterparts.

If Murray goes band for band with Ant, the wolves might as well not show up for the remainder of the Series. I called Jamal a Co- Batman not a Robin earlier and that point still stands. Jokic and the role players will absolutely dominate KAT and the role players around him.

The Nuggets have not earned my trust just yet. Do I believe they can beat the TWolves? Absolutely. They're simply not as good as those first two games suggested. The issue is the Nuggets. How they will respond if push comes to shove. To the whistles, to the physicality

It's also critical that the bench guys show up. Braun and Jackson have to show some competency. That would open up the game for the others including Jokic

kendrick9:
Nuggets needs a consistent 2nd option not this Jekyll and Hyde performance Jamal is dropping.
If Jamal was bringing it every night Nuggets would be favourites to advance in this series.
They have the best player in the league, who's unselfish and a great passer. Jokic needs to play with an All Star/NBA talent.
Jamal isn't that guy, he's way too inconsistent

I'm sorry but you don't know what you're talking about. That one is bleeding obvious

The year the Nuggets won the title Jamal was the best player in the Timberwolves and Lakers series, He had a double double in the Final too 20+pts and 10 asts

This year he won two games in the first round at the death.

Name me a second option that has done that.

Even Jokic has not brought it every night so I don't know why you're setting unrealistic standards for just Murray

Small assignment I will give you now. Explain why Jokic got swept by Booker and CP3. Without Murray

Name the second options better than Murray, show me their postseason resume and explain why they have not won anything where they are presently

Luka has been shocking

PJ Washington is bugging

chic2pimp:
The Nuggets are winning this series. The wolves will be lucky to win another game this series(even this will rely on their players taking more shots). Two reasons why

1) They have bought into their own hype. They had 4 four days to let the praise they've gotten simmer and get into their head. They were outrebounded, out fought, out thought and out hustled. The Defending champs have seized the momentum and are not letting go. They have figured them out. They have by far the Best player in the series and Malone is 2 Leagues above Finch.

2) The playoff ticky tacky foul they got away with in the last game were being called this game. Once I saw Murray wasn't suspended for one game, I knew the league won't let them get away with ticky tacky fouls the rest of the series.

I can't go there with you just yet. However what I do know for sure is they have shown me that they ain't quit and they still believe they can do this and that's always the first step. Things have a way of falling in place when you believe it can be done

What I would say is that these last two games have been very much an aberration. Game 1 is much closer to what this series is supposed to be

Aaron Gordon will not hit 3 straight 3s in a quarter again I can safely say that.

However the way the media and almost everyone went overboard about what the Timberwolves are and I found it a bit bizarre. I've come to understand some of this hyperbole is necessary for ratings but the Nuggets are not as bad nor the Wolves as good as the first two games painted.

Game 2 was a weird game in that the Wolves were allowed to get away with prison ball and Denver were not allowed to match the physicality. I for one have found the officiating in these playoffs rather bizarre, they tried correcting in Game 3 as well but why do that when you can just be consistent across board. What you call foul for one team call for the other team so nobody gets to throw tantrums

At the end of the day I keep saying it. Jamal Murray is the ultimate X-factor. Forget Jokic, this team goes as far as Jamal Murray goes. If Jamal goes band for band with Antman they will come back and win this series. Simple and short