Game 69 (bubble#4): Denver Nuggets (45-23) vs Portland Trail Blazers (31-38)

Post #1 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 12:00 am

Paul Millsap will join Murray, Harris, and Barton in missing this game, so Denver will play without 4 starters, and our opponent is a most motivated bubble team Portland, which sees now a great opportunity to grab 8th West PO spot from Memphis.

But this game is still not lost for Nuggets. That only starter which will play tonight is all-NBA first team Jokic, and our coach Malone discovered lately that he has an all-star talent on his bench! Also, Nuggets are NBA experts for back-to-back games, and playing vs Portland we are also extra motivated, right?

PLAYERS TO WATCH:
With Millsap out, we will probably finally see some serious minutes from Bol Bol in official NBA game, Grant and Morris I hope will prove their good bubble shape once again, of course, Jokic is always fun to watch (another triple-double?), and MPJ will try to become just 2nd rookie ever (after David Robinson) with three consecutive 30-10 games!

Post #2 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 1:16 am

49-62 on halftime Portland lead.

Portland 3pt is 11/18, Denver 5/14, and of course, their backcourt line destroyed us with Lillard-McC-Trent scored 40 out of their 62 points.

MPJ has a perfect start in opening 5 minutes 10 points, but once he stops, Denver stops too (from 20-12 to 20-23). Jokic playing the wrong type of game in 1st half, without been involved enough in shooting and rebounding, just passing like he is a point guard.

skywalker33 · Post #3 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 1:53 am

Absolutely NO reason Nuggets should be in this game...except heart !!

deneem4 · Post #4 » by **deneem4** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:10 am

You guys are missing Harris Murray Barton from the bubble with milsap out this game right?

skywalker33 · Post #5 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:12 am

deneem4 wrote:You guys are missing Harris Murray Barton from the bubble with milsap out this game right?

Correct, and MPJ looks like he may go foe this 3rd 30+/10+ game in a row.....take note NBA world !!

skywalker33 · Post #6 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:18 am

Nice to see Bol Bol getting some PT too, looks good off the bench in his young career.

DaFan334 · Post #7 » by **DaFan334** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:23 am

I'm assuming we didn't care about the outcome of this one and just wanted to rest some guys and get a look at Bol Bol, Dozier, and Bates Diap and see how they handle being involved with a close 4th quarter game.

As a fan, I have to say I am a little frustrated but it was nice to see some highlights from the youth.

DaFan334 · Post #8 » by **DaFan334** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:24 am

deneem4 wrote:You guys are missing Harris Murray Barton from the bubble with milsap out this game right?

They're in the bubble, just not healthy enough to play.

Post #9 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:29 am

DaFan334 wrote:I'm assuming we didn't care about the outcome of this one and just wanted to rest some guys and get a look at Bol Bol, Dozier, and Bates Diap and see how they handle being involved with a close 4th quarter game.

As a fan, I have to say I am a little frustrated but it was nice to see some highlights from the youth.

Millsap has some sort of strain. Murray, Harris, Barton are injured. This wasn't about resting.

skywalker33 · Post #10 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:36 am

NuggetsWY wrote:
DaFan334 wrote:I'm assuming we didn't care about the outcome of this one and just wanted to rest some guys and get a look at Bol Bol, Dozier, and Bates Diap and see how they handle being involved with a close 4th quarter game.

As a fan, I have to say I am a little frustrated but it was nice to see some highlights from the youth.

Millsap has some sort of strain. Murray, Harris, Barton are injured. This wasn't about resting.

Well, Joker only played 23mins.

Post #11 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:41 am

This game was basically our bench against Portland's starters - they were missing a couple of players, but nothing like what the Nuggets were missing. That's not an excuse but I am proud of our guys and it was good experience for our bench players as a group. Porter was fine, of course. Morris was his usual quiet & consistent. Grant stepped it up a bit. Dozier had a rather nice game. Craig had a nice game. Bol got some spot minutes. Bates-Diop also had some spot minutes.

Sure, we wanted to win and we actually had some good minutes; but we were outplayed.

Two things really bothered me.

1. Portland's crazy 3pt shooting percentage. If you watched, Trent & Lillard would pump fake and wait for the nearest Nugget to fly past them and then casually take their three. We aren't the only team that does that, but that "fly by" takes our guys totally out of the play. It just seems like we'd be better off to attack with a little more control.

2. Jokic & Plumlee are very aggressive on high pick-n-rolls. That is not necessarily bad - although sometimes it can be, but our rotations behind them are inadequate and our opponents often get a clear path to the basket.

Post #12 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 2:43 am

A heroic performance from Nuggets in 2nd half, we basically lost because of Malone which don't want to play starters last 15 minutes, except MPJ, which he striped from game 3 minutes before the end to prevent him to become just 2nd player in NBA history to collect three 30-10 games in the row as a rookie. That is disrespect of Nuggets fanbase which wanted to see that historic achievement from MPJ.

All in all, we all should be proud of the Nuggets tonight despite the loss. Nuggets played without 4 starters against strong team wich desperately needed the win, and still managed to lead at some point in the final quarter!

Porter 27-12, Jokic played only 23 minutes and as a point guard, so 13 assists is impressive for such a short period. Grant played 3rd great game out of 4 in a bubble. Morris, Craig, and Dozier are outplayed by opponents guards, but their personal offensive numbers are good tonight. Bol Bol was good, with this level in some teams, he would be close to a starter role already. Plumlee was one of the best in 2nd half.

DaFan334 · Post #13 » by **DaFan334** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 5:35 am

skywalker33 wrote:
NuggetsWY wrote:
DaFan334 wrote:I'm assuming we didn't care about the outcome of this one and just wanted to rest some guys and get a look at Bol Bol, Dozier, and Bates Diap and see how they handle being involved with a close 4th quarter game.

As a fan, I have to say I am a little frustrated but it was nice to see some highlights from the youth.

Millsap has some sort of strain. Murray, Harris, Barton are injured. This wasn't about resting.

Well, Joker only played 23mins.

Yeah, we sat Joker the whole 4th even when we tied the game up. Had he came in, we probably would have had a good chance to win. We weren't there to win today, we were there to rest and honestly probably help Portland because they will be tough for the Lakers to deal with in the first round. Its a bit of strategy and a chance to let the kids get some good run before the playoffs, just in case they are needed for whatever reason.

Alatan · Post #14 » by **Alatan** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 7:43 pm

Ok, so i couldnt watch the game. Why did Jokic only play 23 minutes? Was he really bad or is Malone cracking the whip again?

Post #15 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Aug 7, 2020 10:38 pm

Alatan wrote:Ok, so i couldnt watch the game. Why did Jokic only play 23 minutes? Was he really bad or is Malone cracking the whip again?

I haven't seen an official statement (haven't really looked). It seems so unlike Malone. He is usually so intense he won't even surrender during garbage time, but it seemed like with only one starter even playing, he just gave up on the game. Of course it could be Jokic tweaked an ankle or something. But I was okay with Jokic sitting. It was good for the rest of the team in my opinion and our playoff position is fairly secure.

Alatan · Post #16 » by **Alatan** » Sat Aug 8, 2020 10:37 am

NuggetsWY wrote:
Alatan wrote:Ok, so i couldnt watch the game. Why did Jokic only play 23 minutes? Was he really bad or is Malone cracking the whip again?

I haven't seen an official statement (haven't really looked). It seems so unlike Malone. He is usually so intense he won't even surrender during garbage time, but it seemed like with only one starter even playing, he just gave up on the game. Of course it could be Jokic tweaked an ankle or something. But I was okay with Jokic sitting. It was good for the rest of the team in my opinion and our playoff position is fairly secure.

There are rumors we dropped the game to hunt for a playoff match.Not sure if it is true but it could make some sense.

Its seems that many other teams are playing their players low minutes so it might be resting/precaution because of the tightened schedule....

DaFan334 · Post #17 » by **DaFan334** » Sat Aug 8, 2020 12:00 pm

Alatan wrote:
NuggetsWY wrote:
Alatan wrote:Ok, so i couldnt watch the game. Why did Jokic only play 23 minutes? Was he really bad or is Malone cracking the whip again?

I haven't seen an official statement (haven't really looked). It seems so unlike Malone. He is usually so intense he won't even surrender during garbage time, but it seemed like with only one starter even playing, he just gave up on the game. Of course it could be Jokic tweaked an ankle or something. But I was okay with Jokic sitting. It was good for the rest of the team in my opinion and our playoff position is fairly secure.

There are rumors we dropped the game to hunt for a playoff match.Not sure if it is true but it could make some sense.

Its seems that many other teams are playing their players low minutes so it might be resting/precaution because of the tightened schedule....

We definitely handed them the win because we want them to play the Lakers in the first round because it will be the toughest match up they could have. It's the only logical conclusion seeing as how we tied it up a few minutes into the fourth and then kept a clearly gassed lineup out there. Bol was clearly winded and yet we kept him in and Jokic on the bench. We also stopped running plays to MPJ. Malone either is the dumbest coach ever, or he knew what he was doing. We did similar last year to help our playoff seeding.