Game 19 : Denver Nuggets (11-7) @ San Antonio Spurs (10-8) - 8:30PM

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Fri Jan 29, 2021 8:34 pm

Post #2 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Jan 29, 2021 10:12 pm

San Antonio hasn't been making much noise this year. I hadn't realized they were 1 game behind Denver in the #5 slot in the West. Must be an indicator they can't be taken for granted. A Popovich team will always play hard and smart.

So the questions are, will Denver play hard? Throughout the game? Perhaps the most important stat for the Nuggets would be non-Jokic scoring.

Will Denver play smart? Team ball is what makes Denver good.

skywalker33 · Post #3 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Jan 29, 2021 11:53 pm

This is a good test to show how big your heart is for this team. Five games on the road, Malone playing Jokic and Murray too many minutes yet if they win tonight this road trip will be a HUGE success.

Post #4 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:39 am

skywalker33 wrote:This is a good test to show how big your heart is for this team. Five games on the road, Malone playing Jokic and Murray too many minutes yet if they win tonight this road trip will be a HUGE success.

I'll call it a HUGE success already - win or lose.

But I still expect a win. 8-)

Post #5 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:49 am

When good defensive team scores over 60 points in a half you are in problem. Lets hope 3rd quarter will not be bad as usual, we need this win.

skywalker33 · Post #6 » by **skywalker33** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 3:48 am

NuggetsWY wrote:
skywalker33 wrote:This is a good test to show how big your heart is for this team. Five games on the road, Malone playing Jokic and Murray too many minutes yet if they win tonight this road trip will be a HUGE success.

I'll call it a HUGE success already - win or lose.

But I still expect a win.

Ya had to say it, didn't you :banghead:

Let'em off the hook..... :lol:

Still a good road trip but DD and D.Murray just went off, defense seems to be lacking.

Post #7 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 4:22 am

35y old Aldridge is not an elite player anymore, so Spurs with one near all-star player DeRozan and few decent players have the same 11-8 record like Nuggets, because of Popovich >>> Malone. In the close game 4th quarter Malone decided to play the last 5 minutes with 4-guard rotation which give us bad results even against opponents' 2nd units, so of course, we lost.

Jokic is still in MVP mode, 35-10-5, but after leading NBA in assists this is 3rd game in the row Jokic can't make over 5 passes, so it can't be a coincidence, his point-center playmaker role is changed to "center with good passing skills". Mistake if you ask me.

20-7-6 Murray was great because he is so obviously injured. Playing him whole week 35+ minutes while he is in pain every 2nd half is a mistake too.

Porter played 19 minutes, which means even his 25 mpg is not guaranteed if he not playing like an all-star.

Barton scored 7 points in 1st quarter, just 2 in the rest of the game, despite played 30+ full playing time. And he and Harris just can't stop DeRozan today which shoots 11-14.

Nuggets shoot today 14-31 for 3pt, but everything else was bad.

Post #8 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 1:14 pm

The entire game, it felt like Denver was just going through the motions. Their natural talent was adequate without having to work at it (my opinion). At the start of the 4th quarter they decided to apply themselves - for a few minutes. Just before the mid-point of the 4th quarter, with the Nuggets slightly behind (I think it was 99-94), San Antonio had a four-on-none fast break and it seemed from that point on that Denver just gave up.

Questions:
1. How is it possible for Green to only take 2 shots? He's our best 3pt shooter.
2. How is it possible for Millsap to only take 2 shots? He's the guy that starts ahead of Green?
(Believe me, I am not blaming our two best power forwards. This is a play-calling issue in my opinion. If teams don't have to guard our power forwards ...)

3. How is it possible for Porter to only take 5 shots? He's supposed to be our up-and-coming deadly shooter. (Another play-calling issue IMO.)
4. Why even bother giving Nnaji, Cancar, Howard, Hampton one minute of playing time? In my opinion that's rather insulting (and it sure messes up their per game averages).

5. Didn't anyone tell the Nuggets that San Antonio's top-2 scorers are DeRozan & Murray? They scored 56 points!

Bonus question: Has anyone else noticed a pattern of assists? Jokic had double figures in the first six games. In the thirteen games after that, he's had double figures in assists just three times.

Richard Miller · Post #9 » by **Richard Miller** » Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:22 pm

NuggetsWY wrote:
Bonus question: Has anyone else noticed a pattern of assists? Jokic had double figures in the first six games. In the thirteen games after that, he's had double figures in assists just three times.

Depends on the game though. Vs Miami the ball was really flying around and Gary had 7 assists, and the whole team only had 2 assists less than vs Rockets when Jokic had 18, but the rest of the team only 13. So as long as the ball is moving, I'd say it's fine. Last night's game was pretty terrible, however if they (hopefully) win against the Jazz, nobody will care about last night. Jokic being mega pissed off was kinda worrying though.