Game 39: Denver Nuggets (26-12) @ Miami Heat (19-19) - 7:30 PM ET

[ducler]

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[NuggetsWY]

Matchups seem to favor Denver but Miami should not be underestimated.

[skywalker33]

Harris is out but Beasley is starting instead of Craig

[THE J0KER]

WWWWLWWWWWLL LLWLLWWWWWWWLLWWWWLLWWWWWL?

Denver has some kind of the curse this season. Every time except once when we lose one game, we lose also very next game too, so we not losing one by one game, but two by two!? We must stop that negative attitude tonight!

[THE J0KER]

Talking about Denver bad trends, this is 5th 1sr half in the row Nuggets undrperformed.

[skywalker33]

Talking about Denver bad trends, this is 5th 1sr half in the row Nuggets undrperformed.

You are just a plethora of optimism tonight, aren't you ??

[skywalker33]

Pulled out a close one, back home to take on the Clips

[THE J0KER]

I say this is 5th game in the row we underperforming in 1st half, but in previous 4 we played much better basketball into 2nd half, so no reason for a panic. But when we have that 0-12 run in 4th which overturn game result from +6 to -6 I really worried that we will face another b2b double loss.

But once again we close on the great way close game.

Jokic achieved career #20 triple-double, but this 29-11-10 game is actually nothing very special for Joker standards, except he played 39 minutes instead of casual 30. If he played 10 minutes less like so many times before, 29-11-10 would be something like 23-8-7 game, which is still great, but nothing very special. I don't say Jokic should play 39 minutes every game, but for such superstar 35+ should be the new standard, like he already played last March and April. So, for me the biggest impression of this game is not Jokic TD but his 39 minutes on the floor, and Torey Craig career-high 16 rebounds including 6 on offense. The best Nuggets player of the bench today for a change is Trey Lyles, which is really nice to see.

[Popovich]

I hear you JOKER, staff wants to temp his form and stamina for PO, it's not without the reason when so many commentators notice how he sometimes gives impression of an exhausted veteran instead of a rising youngster. In my layman opinion by now his upper body looks fair and square, particularly shoulders. It's legs are those which might still hide some combustible fat.

BTW , I have just saw game winning shot and I am very impressed. This is becoming his patented shot , I saw variations of it before just never in this moment with such a high arc while leaning upwards asking for contact. AW my!, if we see this few more times in the future we gotta figure out the right term for it.

[NuggetsWY]

Jokic is "out of shape". Jokic is "tired" - nah, it's his game and he's effective even when everyone thinks he's out of shape & tired. When will people realize Jokic is different? Everything about his game is different. Have you watched his rebounding? He's the best Nugget and one of the best in the league at blocking people out, letting someone else gather a rebound that he could have snatched for another stat.

Another win, another nice close out, another game with too much standing around - but notice the Nuggets out scored the Heat in 3 out of the 4 quarters. That's nice. It was a solid team game and the stat that impressed me the most was the rebounding, which Denver won 50-32. Whiteside had an impressive 14 rebounds but look at the Nuggets' rebounding:

16 for Craig
11 for Jokic
9 for Millsap

Those three guys, especially Craig, deserve major credit for this win.

[Maf]

Jokič in interview after the game I like floater because I can't dunk.

[torotoe]

Craig is a true professional. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that plumlee is playing like a mad man this year, he’s infected with Craig’s rabid energy.

[U hova]

At the beginning of the season I really expected Jokic to just be an efficient 15~17 ppg guy while doing his thing, but he's been averaging a nice 27 ppg so far in January... and looks natural doing it too.

[Mickey8]

Well he is out of shape, actually he's kind of fat , he needs to loose that belly , he would be much more dangerous with less weight .

[NuggetsWY]

Well he is out of shape, actually he's kind of fat , he needs to loose that belly , he would be much more dangerous with less weight .

Blah, blah, blah - having weight can be an advantage, if you know how to use it. Losing weight is far more important if you are a running, jumping player. In this game, he played almost the entire 4th quarter and did just fine - that was 40 minutes. In my opinion, he looked tired after the first 5 minutes of the game --- but then again, that was more like how he looks all the time.

I'll agree with you, Jokic could stand to lose some weight but he's never going to be a slim, athletic player.

[Mickey8]

Well he was slim in his rookie season Actually that was his best ever physical condition He doesn't have to be slim , but he needs to loose excess weight , he will be more agile , which will help him a lot on the defensive end and would prolong his career.

[skywalker33]

Just watched the game, Juancho had a terrible game, no offense, sucky defense....hope he pulls out of it

[_Joker]

Jokic is fat for a professional athlete, there's no denying that. I'm not sure why some of us appear to be offended by this being pointed out.

As long as it doesn't affect his game negatively then I personally have no issue with it - and it doesn't seem to be an issue at this point in time given that his game is effortless and cerebral.