RealGM

Giannis is back...

Without Murray, Millsap, and Plumlee just a day after a tough game, we can't beat current NBA leader in their house without theirs *help*.

But the team still should play with 100% of the efforts, because there is no better "playoff test" for your players during the regular season than playing in Milwaukee. MPJ with just 10 career games where he played over 20 minutes and just 4 with over 25 minutes should have his career first 30+ game today, but we know it will not happen again

Harris is also out

psimanic1 wrote:Harris is also out

I would put Barton on PG, Craig on SG and MPJ on SF as starters today. Bledsoe is too physical for Morris and should be guarded by Craig.

I do not believe the OP has our lineup right; but then again, who could possibly figure out our lineups during this stretch?

I'd believe our lineup is likely to be
Jokic - Grant - Craig - Barton - Morris
With Porter - Hernangomez - Beasley getting the majority of the bench minutes

On the defensive end:
I believe Jokic will be okay against Lopez & Lopez.
I believe Grant matches up with Antetokounmpo better than Millsap does - especially with a backup of Porter.
I believe Craig & Porter & Hernangomez can hold their own with Middleton and backups.
I believe Barton & Beasley can hold their own against Matthews & Hill.
I wonder how Morris & Dozier will do against Bledsoe & Hill but Barton might help there.

On the offensive end:
I believe Jokic will struggle posting up down low against Lopez & Lopez.
I also believe we can actually win this game because hustle is what you need when playing Antetokounmpo and his team. We have lots of energy and athleticism - on both ends of the court.

The offensive key will be Jokic in the high post with motion: lots of cutting towards the hoop and running the baseline. When a shooter gets an open shot, they need to take it and stop worrying about being perceived as selfish. That goes for Jokic and every other player on the team.

That offense will result in layups and assists and free throws.

But that's just my opinion and I've been wrong before. Besides, the more difficult the game, the more Malone seems to want to call every single play.

Everyone who played scored 10+. Great team win.

Wow, honestly surprised me especially since it was a tough back-to-back.

Fantastic win. I hope MPJ is OK with that injury, he is the key factor why Nuggets performing so well without such important players this month (11-5 in January, despite Murray, Millsap, Plumlee, Harris didn't play most of the games).

Jokic is one assist shy from triple-double, MPJ was once again team's best rebounder despite not playing more than 25 minutes (5th double-double in past 8 games), everyone was in double-digits, but the most credit deserves defensively Grant for 7 blocks and 2 steals, and offensively Barton with 6 threes (24p).

Gotta say I am more than surprised, I am SHOCKED !! Pleasantly of course but as Joker pointed out, no way we shoulda won that game.

Antetokounmpo was one assist from a triple-double, as was Jokic and that's the way the game should be!

Did you notice that Barton was pushing towards a triple-double? An impressive 24/7/8 stat line. We needed his offense for sure! But I wasn't real impressed with his defense in this game, he seemed flat-footed.

Speaking of offense; Beasley hit 5-10 from THREE!

The Nuggets may have "let" Antetokounmpo score 31 but it was on 27 shots - that's good defense and for the most part, after the 1st quarter, the Nuggets played fairly decent defense against the rest of the team too. They are a tall, long team and it takes some hustle to play against them - even if we have a tall, long team too.

Just 9 players - Malone's favorite number for rotation I believe. With only Cancar & Vanderbilt also ready to play (I think Vanderbilt was ready). Hernangomez & Dozier both got almost 20 minutes and both contributed nicely - on both ends of the court.

Our offense was on what I call a "Lucky Night". We had almost no movement (9 FTs) but hit from THREE at a prodigious rate.

*** *** ***

I don't usually look at +/- too much but this box score was interesting:

+25 Beasley
+21 Grant
+11 Porter
+8 Hernangomez
+6 Dozier
+3 Morris
+1 Barton
-6 Craig
-9 Jokic

Jokic with the worst =/- and he was probably, as usual, our best player. But the +/- definitely indicates our bench was vital - especially remembering we are missing Murray, Harris, Millsap, and Plumlee.

Wondering if this injury spell will take a toll on Jokic ??

skywalker33 wrote:Wondering if this injury spell will take a toll on Jokic ??

One great advantage to being "earth-bound" is you are less likely to take a leg injury.

NuggetsWY wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:Wondering if this injury spell will take a toll on Jokic ??

One great advantage to being "earth-bound" is you are less likely to take a leg injury.

Jokic has been very durable. Somewhere I read that he had missed only 20 games in 5 years. He is the "aircraft carrier" of basketball.

TunaFish wrote:

NuggetsWY wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:Wondering if this injury spell will take a toll on Jokic ??

One great advantage to being "earth-bound" is you are less likely to take a leg injury.

Jokic has been very durable. Somewhere I read that he had missed only 20 games in 5 years. He is the "aircraft carrier" of basketball.

Early in the season, Jokic seemed to be worn down because on his time in international play, I could see that happening again. He does seem to be able to avoid injuries but being worn down is different

skywalker33 wrote:

TunaFish wrote:

NuggetsWY wrote:One great advantage to being "earth-bound" is you are less likely to take a leg injury.

Jokic has been very durable. Somewhere I read that he had missed only 20 games in 5 years. He is the "aircraft carrier" of basketball.

Early in the season, Jokic seemed to be worn down because on his time in international play, I could see that happening again. He does seem to be able to avoid injuries but being worn down is different

I heard that a number of times but Jokic plays a different style, his own style. Not sure if he was really that tired or just playing to make the team play better around him. He's a different animal.

TunaFish wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:

TunaFish wrote:
Jokic has been very durable. Somewhere I read that he had missed only 20 games in 5 years. He is the "aircraft carrier" of basketball.

Early in the season, Jokic seemed to be worn down because on his time in international play, I could see that happening again. He does seem to be able to avoid injuries but being worn down is different

I heard that a number of times but Jokic plays a different style, his own style. Not sure if he was really that tired or just playing to make the team play better around him. He's a different animal.

Remember last year's playoff game where he played 60+ minutes? He basically plays at the same pace. I believe his slow season starts are because he likes to get others started in games and for the season plus Malone likes more control early (and late) in seasons and games.