Playoffs Game 6 Round 1: Denver Nuggets (2) @ San Antonio Spurs (7) - 8:00 PM ET

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Thu Apr 25, 2019 7:41 pm

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skywalker33 · Post #2 » by **skywalker33** » Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:01 pm

Feels like the Nuggets settled down their playoff jitters, time to put the Spurs into their offseason rocking chairs

Post #3 » by **NuggetsWY** » Thu Apr 25, 2019 10:06 pm

Do the Nuggets believe in themselves? That's the only question for tonight.

Post #4 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:23 pm

It would be perfect if we finish our job today. But if we lose vs an elite homecourt opponent, the team with NBA TOP3 W-L record at home in every of past 5 seasons, it wouldn't be the end of the world, because of we are playing eventual game#7 in Denver!

Winning formula with Jokic playing up to 40 minutes if it is needed, and Barton coming from the bench is not secret for Malone anymore. But let's be realistic, our spectacular 46.2% 3pt% (54-117) so far in this series when we exclude very first game#1 is just too good to expect it will continue every single game, so, first of all, I want to see today our guys starting playing intense defense since very first minute, just like they did in the previous game, without waiting 2nd half to do that, like they do in the opening 4 games. Good luck!

Post #5 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:31 am

Just like I guessed, no way we are going to repeat monster 3pt stats 5th game in the row.

I hoped for an intense defense already in the 1st half, but the previous game was obviously exception and we playing our standard 2019 game with the focus on the 2nd half. Jokic is in his triple-double mode, so Spurs 1st half 64 points were not enough to knock out us already before halftime. -4 on halftime is not so bad result considering we constantly playing better in the 2nd half this series and 2019 in general as well.

Post #6 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:52 am

Jokic game is already big today after 3 quarters, but Denner needs at least someone other to steps up, or better defense because both Spurs stars are great today (plus Gay from the bench).

U hova · Post #7 » by **U hova** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:27 am

I stopped watching sometime in the 4th because I felt an urge to cover my face with a pillow and scream at the top of my lungs for about 10 minutes straight

SkillzFromThe6 · Post #8 » by **SkillzFromThe6** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:35 am

Mickey8 · Post #9 » by **Mickey8** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:38 am

He should have started 4th quarter with Jokic, yes he logged heavy minutes but its a play off, either pull him earlier in the third or just play him heavy minutes, Denver was finished in two minutes at the start of the fourth quarter with Barton and Plamlee being clowns . Malone just don't have a feel for the rotation management.

skywalker33 · Post #10 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:45 am

3pt shooting very off tonight, big difference in the game.

Post #11 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 2:54 am

Our bigs (Jokic/Millsap/Plumlee) are 26-42 (62%), but the rest of the team 18-54 (33%) which is awful. But with a better defense, even that would be enough thanks to sensational Jokic, but San Antonio was 48-84 (57%) which is scandalous for a playoff game this important.

We are great all season in 4th quarters, so I'm shocked with our 2-17 start today, which was key for this loses. Jokic reached franchise PO record with 43pts and was 1 assist shy from the rare 40p playoff triple-double, so he should be last removed from the court of starters instead of two times injured Murray, not first. Career-first 45+ game or monster TD would be a nice investment in Joker confidence... but that is just me...

GAME-7: We are bold favorites to win, despite big pressure and inexperience, because, as I said so many times, this is a matchup where home court advantage is way bigger than usual.

Post #12 » by **-Sammy-** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:39 am

Good game, Nugget Nation! I know we got the better of y'all tonight, but all that did was tie the series up. I love game sevens, and I know we're going to have a bloody battle on our hands. Here's to a thrilling, injury-free, well-reffed game, may the best team win, and however it goes, thanks for a hell of a series.

Post #13 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 6:45 am

We only scored 30+ in one quarter and that's the only quarter we won.
San Antonio scored 34-30-26-30 indicating we did not play anything close to a reasonable defense. San Antonio will seldom beat themselves, so you can't take a night off when playing them.

Jokic :: 43-12-9 and a great game
Millsap : 12-4 and not a very good game
Plumlee : 5-3 and a poor game

Craig : 5-6-6 and a decent game
Barton : 2-2 and a terrible game

Harris : 14 and a not very impressive game with only 8 shots attempted
Beasley : 2-2 and a terrible game

Murray : 16-3-6 and a decent game
Morris : 5-2-3 and not a very good game

Three players (Jokic, Craig, Murray) can not win against San Antonio.

Manolito · Post #14 » by **Manolito** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 8:22 am

Why the hell are we losing the rebounding battle every single game except game 5? Denver is way better rebounder team than Spurs (8th vs 21th in RS). Ok, they are collapsing the zone to try to limit Jokic damage, and Poetl is playing lot of minutes, but still, I don´t understand why Denver is struggling there.

Portland is a much greater rebounder team and that would be a huge handicap, if we ever play against them in second round.

Post #15 » by **The Rebel** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 12:47 pm

How does Barton do it? He joins the starting lineup and everybody struggles on his bad nights, he gets put on the bench and suddenly our bench all struggle on his bad nights as well. It is like the guy infects everybody with bad shooting and energy as soon as he has a bad night. I do not understand how Malone can play him when it is obvious how bad he makes the team, and damn if he does not freeze guys out. We were getting destroyed and yet Morris and Harris could not get the ball for anything.

It appears that the Spurs have decided to get physical with Murray, Jokic, Millsap, and Plumlee and the SPurs were getting the calls last night or should I say the refs were ignoring most of their fouls. Jokic stepped up, Murray got hurt but was not exactly having a great game either way, Millsap has totally stopped rebounding, and Plumlee has been bad the entire series. I am disappointed in the veterans to say the least.

What a game from Jokic, anybody that questions whether he is a franchise player or a top 10 player in the league just shows their ignorance now. Holy crap.

Post #16 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:06 pm

Manolito wrote:Why the hell are we losing the rebounding battle every single game except game 5? Denver is way better rebounder team than Spurs (8th vs 21th in RS). Ok, they are collapsing the zone to try to limit Jokic damage, and Poetl is playing lot of minutes, but still, I don´t understand why Denver is struggling there.

Portland is a much greater rebounder team and that would be a huge handicap, if we ever play against them in second round.

Poetl is averaging 26.5 mpg, so he isn't making that big of a difference with his 7.7 rebounds (which is a lot for those minutes). ALdridge is average 9.3 rebounds. The real problem for us is adding in Rudy Gay at 7 reb & DeRozan at 6.5 reb. They are only getting 3 more rebounds per game. The difference is Jokic is the only one getting rebounds for us. Millsap & Plumlee are combining for 7.6 rebounds and that's pathetic. Craig & Barton are combining for 10.4 and that's impressive.

Rebounding is about positioning for most teams but if you watch the Nuggets, they tend to get them by hustle and/or luck (except for Jokic) - at least that's the way I see it.

Portland was the better rebounding team during the year but Nurkic was 10+ per game. If we can't out-rebound Portland, we are not playing well at all. But we need to beat San Antonio one more time and out-rebounding them would be a very nice start - can anyone give Millsap & Plumlee some 5 hour energy drinks?

U hova · Post #17 » by **U hova** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:18 pm

Barton has a lot of empty rebounds where he chases the ball that's about to land into Jokic or Milsap's hands.

Plumlee is often out of position for the rebound because he bites on every fake. It's too late in the series but someone really should have told him to use his big arms to box out a guy during the offseason.

SkillzFromThe6 · Post #18 » by **SkillzFromThe6** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 8:21 pm

The Rebel wrote:How does Barton do it? He joins the starting lineup and everybody struggles on his bad nights, he gets put on the bench and suddenly our bench all struggle on his bad nights as well. It is like the guy infects everybody with bad shooting and energy as soon as he has a bad night. I do not understand how Malone can play him when it is obvious how bad he makes the team, and damn if he does not freeze guys out. We were getting destroyed and yet Morris and Harris could not get the ball for anything.

It appears that the Spurs have decided to get physical with Murray, Jokic, Millsap, and Plumlee and the SPurs were getting the calls last night or should I say the refs were ignoring most of their fouls. Jokic stepped up, Murray got hurt but was not exactly having a great game either way, Millsap has totally stopped rebounding, and Plumlee has been bad the entire series. I am disappointed in the veterans to say the least.

What a game from Jokic, anybody that questions whether he is a franchise player or a top 10 player in the league just shows their ignorance now. Holy crap.

I try not to be THAT Guy that comes in here and bashes Barton every time but man the turning point in this game for me was when had those 2 straight turnovers followed by 2 misses I believe. He continued to take the ball out of Morris's hands and bring it up himself to run the same Plumlee pick & roll. That's when the momentum shifted in my eyes. It's so hard to blame anyone else when it's really just him every single time.

Post #19 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:02 pm

SkillzFromThe6 wrote:
The Rebel wrote:How does Barton do it? He joins the starting lineup and everybody struggles on his bad nights, he gets put on the bench and suddenly our bench all struggle on his bad nights as well. It is like the guy infects everybody with bad shooting and energy as soon as he has a bad night. I do not understand how Malone can play him when it is obvious how bad he makes the team, and damn if he does not freeze guys out. We were getting destroyed and yet Morris and Harris could not get the ball for anything.

It appears that the Spurs have decided to get physical with Murray, Jokic, Millsap, and Plumlee and the SPurs were getting the calls last night or should I say the refs were ignoring most of their fouls. Jokic stepped up, Murray got hurt but was not exactly having a great game either way, Millsap has totally stopped rebounding, and Plumlee has been bad the entire series. I am disappointed in the veterans to say the least.

What a game from Jokic, anybody that questions whether he is a franchise player or a top 10 player in the league just shows their ignorance now. Holy crap.

I try not to be THAT Guy that comes in here and bashes Barton every time but man the turning point in this game for me was when had those 2 straight turnovers followed by 2 misses I believe. He continued to take the ball out of Morris's hands and bring it up himself to run the same Plumlee pick & roll. That's when the momentum shifted in my eyes. It's so hard to blame anyone else when it's really just him every single time.

Shooters and bench scorers tend to be erratic - that's why Barton belongs on the bench - the problem is, Malone doesn't rotate his bench players, he just plays his favorites --- If Barton isn't hot, try Craig, if he isn't hot, try Hernangomez, etc. we have plenty of bench players but Malone doesn't use them