Game 63: Denver Nuggets (42-20) @ San Antonio Spurs (35-29) - 8:30 PM ET

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[SkillzFromThe6]

I wonder who's guarding DeMar DeRozan? Will it be Gary Harris or Will Barton? If Will Barton guards Bryn Forbes, I'm concerned Forbes will hit 5+ 3s tonight.

[THE J0KER]

There is no way to shameful home loss vs Pelicans without Davis after +19 lead will be erased. But if we beat Spurs on the road, it would be fair compensation for last week unexpected home loss against Utah. Denver is an arguably better team than San Antonio this season, but don't forget that Spurs are the 2nd best home team on West this season and 4th best in NBA with a 24-7 record, and we are far from impressive on the road with 15-14.

[skywalker33]

This could very well be our 1st round playoff matchup, would be very nice to set a precedent here.

[THE J0KER]

Our 2019 strategy to start cold in 1st half and then finish job in the 2nd half doesn't work anymore after all-star break against playoff level teams which turn into playoff mode. They find the way to humiliate low energy Nuggets so Utah won 33-15 2nd quarter, Spurs won 36-17 1st quarter, so it is hard to recover after such deficit vs good teams.

[SkillzFromThe6]

Torrey Craig played some great minutes, Beasley and Monte also good defensive effort.

Gary needs more shots... Jamal is missing a lot of open shots he typically makes in the mid range.

I don't like how Malone is starting to give Barton a lot of minutes again just like last year. He's played the 2nd most minutes behind Jokic, so far. Also Barton got blown by 4 times by White, Forbes and DeRozan 2x and gave up about 9 points

[CarbonCopy]

Barton does not work as a starter, not enough defense too much shooting, if 3s don't fall Nuggets are bad, and they have not been falling.

Torry Craig for all his faults gives Nuggets defense a much better shape and there is still plenty of offense around.

Barton is a 6th man he must come off the bench.

[THE J0KER]

Good 2nd quarter, but thanks to awful 1st quarter deficit is still in double digits against team we didn't beat on the road for years (we lost last 12 there).

On positive note, Malone finally use today in 1st half proven NBA formula when things going bad - he increases playing time of his franchise player! I guess this is Jokic career first 20 minutes 1st half.

[SkillzFromThe6]

Denver only shot 4 FTs (1 was a Technical) compared to Spurs 19 was the stat that stood out to me...

1st quarter hurt Denver in the end tbh.

Edit: Also what did Will Barton do so great to have played the 2nd most minutes behind Jokic? Malik Beasley brought Denver back in that 2nd half.

[THE J0KER]

It would be an epic win if we won, one of the best comebacks ever... but because we lost, it is 1st quarter -19 deficit to be blamed.

Talking about last attack for a win I don't get it 1) why Murray shooting already 8 seconds left, 2) why 5 seconds left our player with lowest BBIQ put ball in, and 3) why 3 seconds left our clutch time expert Jokic put ball in so we are forced to 3pt action despite 2pt would be enough?

[NuggetsWY]

It was nice to see Craig get a few minutes but occasional play does not inspire confidence.

Thomas is averaging 40% from the field & 32% from 3 and provides little defense with only 1.5 assists per game. Would Malone play him if he were a young player?

Barton started out cold but cut down on his shots, finishing with 10 shots. Since he plays little defense why is he out there when he's not hot? Certainly not for tonight's 1 assist for 2 turnovers. (But give him credit for 6 boards tonight.)

Murray struggled early but finished with 8-19 which isn't terrible. He also had 8 assists. That's a decent stat line for a PG.

Beasley & Millsap had decent games and of course so did Jokic.

*** *** ***

17 points in the 1st quarter
31 points in the 2nd
21 points in the 3rd
34 points in the 4th

Some games our starters don't play so well.
Other games our bench doesn't play so well.
Why? Is Malone not preparing/motivating them? If they are as good as we think they are and they have personal pride, do they really need motivation? What's the problem?

Consistent players? Jokic, Millsap, Plumee (Plumlee was not so good tonight, but he's fairly consistent) --- Murray & Beasley are a little less consistent, but not terrible. That sounds like our best lineup, at least for the end of games.

*** *** ***

Here's something that puzzles me: at the end of the game, there were multiple inbounds plays that just didn't work. You would think 1 out of the last 3 should have worked or at least resulted in one decent shot. Beyond that; did you notice who inbounded the ball on those three plays? Jokic or Murray --- It would seem those would be two of your top choices of getting the ball to for a shot. In high school we learned that it helped to have a taller player guard the guy inbounding the ball, it makes it harder to pass the ball. So it would be real nice to have a good passing 7' tall player throwing the ball in to Jokic or Murray or Harris or Beasley or Millsap and wouldn't you know it, Denver has a 7' good passing big man sitting on the bench - Plumlee. Malone swaps Plumlee for Jokic all the time for defense at the end of games. I don't like that but it makes a lot of sense (unless there's no time out before going on offense but ...) so why can't Malone use Plumlee as an inbounder? For players over 6'10" Plumlee is ranked #12 in total number of assists (not just per game).

[Manolito]

Why did Barton take so long to pass Jokic at the inbound with 8seconds left?

Jokic had a missmatch and he was completely alone at the rim.

Malone is starting to look like Mark Jackson at the Warriors...

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[The Rebel]

Barton does not work as a starter, not enough defense too much shooting, if 3s don't fall Nuggets are bad, and they have not been falling.

Torry Craig for all his faults gives Nuggets defense a much better shape and there is still plenty of offense around.

Barton is a 6th man he must come off the bench.

The issue with Craig starting is that teams play off him and Millsap packing the lane and making it harder for our offense to run. The solution to me is to start Beasley at SF with Harris and Murray in the backcourt. Bring in Morris, barton, and Craig off the bench to go with Plumlee with Juancho getting spot minutes at the 3 or 4 until he can get his head on straight. Thomas can just stay in the lockerroom.

[The Rebel]

It will be lost due to the the loss of the game, but that display by Jokic and Murray in the 4th quarter reminded me so much of those last 13 games last season where they basically carried us to within 1 game of the 6th seed.

Too bad it had to come to that, and I am no longer blaming Thomas, it is obvious that he is trying his best but does not have it anymore. I am not even blaming Barton who was a turnstile on defense last night and was Barton on offense last night. No, I blame Malone, it is his rotations that are in danger of derailing their entire season and put us into the playoffs on a horrific slide while he takes care of those guys he loves the most.

I am almost to the point of not watching any more games until Malone pulls his head out of his ass, I am afraid I may break my new TV watching Thomas and Barton **** this season up.

[Mickey8]

I can't stand Barton , he's the main reason Denver struggling for two weeks, they did prior ALL Star break. He's the chucker and the ball hog of the highest order . His chemistry with Jokic is non existing , I swear he's ignoring Jokic on purpose off the pick and roll , he would pass any teammate if he's not able to brick the shot, no matter in what bad situations his teammates are but he would not pass to Jokic who always have an open path to the basket. Just watch Barton and Jokic if I am Jokic would kick his behind put him in order . Also on the defensive end he's the worst player on the roster the guy have lowest basketball IQ of any player . What the horrible contract for Denver.