GAMES 33 & 34 : Denver Nuggets (21-11) @ Sacramento Kings (17-14)

Post #1 » by **THE J0KER** » Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:25 pm

Two back-to-back games vs Kings in Sacramento. If Sabonis will not play due to injury Denver is the bold favorite, but if Sabonis is playing, both games are open.

skywalker33 · Post #2 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:38 am

Not out to a great first qtr, but it's not how you start, it's how you finish the game.

Post #3 » by **THE J0KER** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 3:48 am

Denver is NBA's best team this season in 1st quarters, so today's 20-32 is probably the worst 1st quarter this season. Sabonis and Gordon not playing so you expecting from Jokic to be even busier in the offense than usual, but he takes only one single shot in the whole 1st quarter. At the beginning of 2nd quarter seems we lost Brown for today's game.

skywalker33 · Post #4 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:06 am

Down by 9 at the half, MPJ came alive late in the 2nd with his scoring, Jokic not so much. KCP is MIA to say the least, we'll need a strong start to the 2nd half, time to regroup.

Post #5 » by **THE J0KER** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:08 am

-9 on halftime is not that bad considering Kings lead +20 at one point. Kings playing this season so far like a playoff team, we can't beat them with only Porter and Murray trying anything. Jokic's 1-2FG is a ridiculous stat line for a game where the opponent's best center not even playing.

skywalker33 · Post #6 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:25 am

Feels like the old Rocky/Bullwinkle line "Hey Rocky, watch me pull another win outta my....." MPJ shows his explosive scoring potential, Murray adds 23 and Joker falls 1 reb short of a Triple Double. Didn't get to watch the game but how the heck does Nnaji get SIX PF's in just 15 mins, was Tony part of the ref crew tonight ?

skywalker33 · Post #7 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:31 am

Still a good win, especially with MEM losing another game, seems NOP is becoming our chief competition, not good since they've already beaten us once. Moved up to 2nd in the league

Post #8 » by **THE J0KER** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 6:02 am

Great win, I think the first one this season after a 20+ deficit. Denver is now tied with the Bucks for the #2 record in NBA a few days before the end of the year. Porter and Murray are all-night great but slippy Jokic got only 2pts on halftime but finished the game 1 rebound away from 20+ triple-double, and that makes the change in the 2nd half.

skywalker33 wrote:Feels like the old Rocky/Bullwinkle line "Hey Rocky, watch me pull another win outta my....." MPJ shows his explosive scoring potential, Murray adds 23 and Joker falls 1 reb short of a Triple Double. Didn't get to watch the game but how the heck does Nnaji get SIX PF's in just 15 mins, was Tony part of the ref crew tonight ?

Nnaji fouled out early was actually a good thing for Denver tonight, it forced Malone to use Porter for almost 30 minutes. In a close game without Gordon and Brown's early injury, Porter on his good day should play 35+ minutes, but Malone obviously has some strange calculations (against the Suns two days ago Porter has one of the worst games of the season scoring just 7pts but played 35 minutes). Talking about MPJ I hope his 3p-slump was officially over with this game where he scored 5-9 threes. Before this game Porter shooting awfully 19%3p% 6-32 since 2nd half of November due to injury problems which forced him to miss 13 games in the same period.

skywalker33 · Post #9 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:04 pm

I am curious, AG50 was listed as INACTIVE yet was this because of "load management" ? Why place him on INACTIVE status rather than just sit him on the bench to give him rest ? Then should we need him (such as when Nnaji fouls out quickly) at least he's eligible to play when needed. Am I incorrect about that assumption ?

DaFan334 · Post #10 » by **DaFan334** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 5:56 pm

skywalker33 wrote:I am curious, AG50 was listed as INACTIVE yet was this because of "load management" ? Why place him on INACTIVE status rather than just sit him on the bench to give him rest ? Then should we need him (such as when Nnaji fouls out quickly) at least he's eligible to play when needed. Am I incorrect about that assumption ?

He was pulled from the lineup in pregame because his shoulder was acting up, so they most likely didn't want him in general out there.

skywalker33 · Post #11 » by **skywalker33** » Wed Dec 28, 2022 9:55 pm

Thanks for the update, any word on if he'll play tonight ?

Post #12 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:21 am

GAME 34

Murray is out, Gordon is out, Brown is out, Green is out, and Sabonis is back!

Nnaji and Bones are starters.. bench is weak, good to see starters have a good 17-5 start in the opening 4 minutes. We need Porter from yesterday and Jokic attacking since the very first minute with much better Hyland than he playing the last two weeks.

Post #13 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 3:39 am

Yesterday we have one of the worst 1st quarters this season but tonight one of the best with a 40-24 lead (Jokic and Porter scored more points than the whole Kings team). This game seemed lost even before started, but not anymore!

Post #14 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 4:13 am

Kings have an 8-2 run in the very last minute of the 1st half, but 75-62 is still a great lead on halftime. This game is still winnable if Jokic and Porter stay on this level (+Nnaji have the best 1st half of the season, already in double digits).

Post #15 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 5:55 am

After winning the game yesterday after a -20 deficit we lose today vs the same opponent after a +20 lead :banghead:

This would be such a great boost for players like Hyland and Nnaji who was both great tonight as starters if we won it...

Denver leads +19 with just 15 minutes left, so of course, with all credit to the team with two legit all-star players Fox and Sabonis, the loss must be somehow connected with coach decisions. In this case, Malone's biggest mistake is obvious, how on Earth in a close game without two starters (and the 6th man was out too) did Malone manage to give 2-time MVP just 32 minutes of playing time (Sabonis with a bandaged hand played 38)?? At about 7:30 left Denver leading +11, but Malone waited for about 6:00 to send Joker to the court when the game was just +6 close...

Jstock12 · Post #16 » by **Jstock12** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 2:01 pm

THE J0KER wrote:(Sabonis with a bandaged hand played 38)??

Sabonis should be sitting out for 2-3 weeks due to that avulsion fracture in his thumb, but he's got that oldschool mindset of playing through injuries. :noway:

skywalker33 · Post #17 » by **skywalker33** » Thu Dec 29, 2022 11:14 pm

Have to say I'm surprised nobody mentioned that KCP allowed Monk the baseline, or that Monk hooked KCP to get around him, thought that'd be more controversial

Richard Miller · Post #18 » by **Richard Miller** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:07 am

skywalker33 wrote:Have to say I'm surprised nobody mentioned that KCP allowed Monk the baseline, or that Monk hooked KCP to get around him, thought that'd be more controversial

Lyles being like 2 m out is more controversial, but what can you do

Read on Twitter

skywalker33 · Post #19 » by **skywalker33** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 12:25 am

Ref report was outrageous too, but what else can you do

baldur · Post #20 » by **baldur** » Fri Dec 30, 2022 5:28 am

Hi guys, do you feel like nuggets would reach 51 wins at the end of the season? I gambled a lot for it and happy to hear some opinions about it if I need to cashout or just wait and see.