Yes, and are we totally sure that Denver is an unstoppable juggernaut? People have been pretty quick to crown their asses, but there are a number of worrying signs. I'm really excited to see them play Minny; that is going to be a slugfest.
As long as Murray continues to shoot like Russell Westbrook, Denver is no juggernaut.
Murray missed a lot of layups — gotta wonder if he’s thrown off by the refs allowing more contact.
This place is going downhill fast! Post occurred 9 hours ago and still no clip of Darvin Ham’s face photoshopped on Dennis Green’s presser. I tell ya, back in the day…..
The guy is still a borderline top 10 player in the league and you want him to be a role player?
Here’s the list if you have time to look
Some 3-0 comeback potential here. Lakers have been good enough to be tied or up 3-1.
I read this on the internet: "Conference Semifinals: May 6-7, 2024 (but could move up to May 4-5, 2024 if the First Round ends early)"...so i guess some play? Assume they'd have to take into account competing events in arenas, etc., too.
100%. They matchup everywhere except with defending the Nuggets 4Q two-man game w Murray and Jokic. Calves are no joke. This makes things very interesting if LA can come out of Denver with a win and Murray isn’t 100% the rest of the way.
Those dates are basically accurate. All the game sevens are scheduled for Saturday-Sunday, May 4-5. The NBA will make sure they have enough programming for the weekend, but they won’t start round 2 any earlier than that.
"Borderline top 10" is another way of saying "around the 12th best player." Or not a guy who can be the best player on a Championship team, unless the role players around him are totally optimized, which LA's aren't. Maybe if the guys around Bron and AD were Derrick White, a healthy Alex Caruso, and Mikal Bridges, the conversation is different.
Depends if they have enough games to play on TV. They want at least two games a night so they will fill in where they can for second round starts.
Murray off the dribble breaks down the defense for open 3’s and Gordon dunks. Reggie Jackson can’t crate 25 FGA anymore nor can he set up the Nuggets role players. They were 13-10 without him this year, 44-15 with him.
Yeah I'm definitely one of those people that believes Jokic is the best player in the league by several miles, but the Nuggets have been shockingly vulnerable without Murray over the last few years. I don't know if this speaks more to a weakness in Jokic's game or a real lack of playmaking depth on the Nuggets, but they absolutely need Murray to go any further than round 2.
They only have one shot creator without Murray, and that's simply not enough, as great as Jokic is. It gets too easy to limit him and live with the other guys doing stuff.
Definitely tough minded, but it speaks to some level of deficiency to fall behind to the same team by 10+ in 4 straight games.
No, you don't get it. Denver is a Proven Title Winner with a True Number One Alpha, and so they are allowed to play with their food.
Food playing at the end of a long season dates back to the Red Auerbach days when they were taking to 7 games by .500 teams on several occasions. I was at the 2008 first round series in Atlanta when the Celtics treated G6 like a mid-January game in New Orleans on their way to a title. In 2018, Golden State was down double digits to the Rockets in G7 and then needed Houston to miss 27 consecutive 3-pointers to win the series on the way to a Title. Food playing goes as far back as one of the assistant clubhouse guys getting a girls phone number in the stands for a player.
It is weird but you basically get a decaying wall of invulnerability from criticism from each championship. It takes about 3 years depending on your performance the last year.
Yup, the Bucks sort of still have it (injuries!), but the LeBron/AD Lakers have lost it for sure (I guess straight-up missing the playoffs will do that to ya).
