2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West First Round: #4 Denver Nuggets vs #5 LA Clippers (DEN leads 1-0)

[OkcSinceSGA]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Seems like the only person having an existential crisis (breakdown) here is you, whenever someone mentions that Jokic had a good season and the Nuggets role players on the whole did not. Whether that’s because of injuries or just poor play is irrelevant.

[Optms]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Both are kind of true though. Murray is a fringe 2nd option during the reg season but lets not forget that he becomes a top 5-10 caliber player every post season. Check the numbers. They back it up. Denver has the players to compete in the post season.

Problem is it won't be enough. The league has caught up a long time ago. Kawhi cancels out whatever Murray does for Denver and as great as much as people want to say Joker carries the Nuggets, he isn't on that GOAT tier where he can carry a team in the playoffs. He can only do that in the regular saeson. Joker has never put the Nuggets on his back in the playoffs ala Lebron. He's been great in all the series' he's won but so has Murray. He has never had to win a series by himself. Go look at how Denver has done without Murray in the playoffs. Jokic gets cooked. Hell, Rudy Gobert looked like a mini Hakeem in the close out game vs Joker. Denver is just a flawed team from top to bottom.

Bottom line - Clippers in 6, if we see Kawhi stay healthy.

[ReggiesKnicks]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Both are kind of true though. Murray is a fringe 2nd option during the reg season but lets not forget that he becomes a top 5-10 caliber player every post season. Check the numbers. They back it up. Denver has the players to compete in the post season.

2024 Jamal Murray (PS): 0.2 OBPM, 29% USG% on 47.4 TS%, Negative On/Off and Net-Rtg, Sub 32% 3P% and Sub-45% 2P%

Not always

[SA37]

I like the Clippers in 6.

This is a matchup nightmare for Denver. The Clippers seem to be clicking and coming together at just the right time.

[nomansland]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Both are kind of true though. Murray is a fringe 2nd option during the reg season but lets not forget that he becomes a top 5-10 caliber player every post season. Check the numbers. They back it up. Denver has the players to compete in the post season.

2024 Jamal Murray (PS): 0.2 OBPM, 29% USG% on 47.4 TS%, Negative On/Off and Net-Rtg, Sub 32% 3P% and Sub-45% 2P%

Not always

Fair enough, but he was pretty clearly playing hurt last playoffs. How healthy he is this year will make a huge difference.

[flow]

Clippers in 6. Jokic is the best player in the series, but Kawhi is not too far behind. Harden is far ahead of Jamal Murray. Clippers also got more reliable depth

Regular Season Harden may be far ahead of Regular Season Murray, but I'll take Playoff Murray over Playoff Harden any day.


That being said, Clips take the series.

.

[Gregoire]

Nuggets in 7

[Edrees]

I just can't trust Harden in playoffs and I don't trust Kawhi's health either, and I have a lot of faith in Jokic in playoffs. I'm picking Nuggets in 7

[BelgradeNugget]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

If I say every Nuggets starter had better TS% then Harden, and every Nuggets starter except Murray had better TS% than Kawhi or Norm, am I wrong? BTW Murray, had worst TS% of Nuggets starters 58.4, Kawhi had 58.9. Facts. The worst scoring average of Nuggets starters had AG with 14.7 in 28 minutes. He also mised 31 games due to injuries. After all star break when healthy he averaged 19 pts.

Also fact is Clippers had 3rd best defense, Nuggets 21st.

Jokic had one of the best seasons in history so Nuggets should have had better record. They didn't. Some Nuggets fans think it is due to team around him. They think they are all scrubs. Some other teams fans think the same. I think problem was Malone, all the time. We will see who is right.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Seems like the only person having an existential crisis (breakdown) here is you, whenever someone mentions that Jokic had a good season and the Nuggets role players on the whole did not. Whether that’s because of injuries or just poor play is irrelevant.

If you prefer I can just bump 50 posts from people crying about Jokic’s terrible supporting cast and carry job if you want? Or you can be honest and admit that was prevalent this year

[Special_Puppy]

Clippers have been playing better than the Nuggets and are the more talented team on paper. They should win this

[ejftw]

Interesting thing will be Braun - Harden dynamics. Braun will guard Harden and he is leading the league in fastbreak points. If there is no swich in Nuggets defense, Harden will be the one who has to stop the best fastbreak scorrer in the league. Every Clippers missed shot/Nuggets rebound will be Nuggets fastbreak oportunity. Also Braun is one of the best off-ball cuters in half court. Harden will have to be engaged and focused for all 24 secs on shot clock on defense.

Just because Brain will try to slowdown Harden doesn't mean that on the flip side, especially in the half court, that James will be on Chris. Most likely will have Norm on Braun while Harden is on Gordon, due to James' uncanny ability to be decent in the post on D, if not on Porter due to him just floating around the arc more often than not.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Jokic homers seem to be having an existential crisis.

A. They are listing how good Jamal Murray, Braun, Gordon are etc.. and how the Clippers have no clear matchup advantages really.

B. After arguing all season that Jokic was carrying scrubs and the corpse of Murray.

Obviously both things cannot be true. Either Jokic did a carry job, or the Nuggets are a very good team period. Because the Clips aren’t a one man show. IF the Jokic homers are right that it’s only Jokic, Denver will lose in 5. Reality? Denver has several very good role players and it goes to 6-7 for me.

Seems like the only person having an existential crisis (breakdown) here is you, whenever someone mentions that Jokic had a good season and the Nuggets role players on the whole did not. Whether that’s because of injuries or just poor play is irrelevant.

If you prefer I can just bump 50 posts from people crying about Jokic’s terrible supporting cast and carry job if you want? Or you can be honest and admit that was prevalent this year

If that makes you feel good go ahead, but I don’t know what that has to do with me. Joker’s supporting cast was pathetic on the whole this season, so I probably (without reading them) agree with the essence of those posts.

[JXL]

Nuggets in 6.

Jokic has to go God Mode to win this series. If Jamal Murray isn't healthy, this is what Jokic has to do.

Also, Westbrook vs. Harden is going to be...


This might be the best Western Conference series (I think Lakers vs. T-Pups will go 5).

[Mrakar]

If Westbrook plays more then 10 minutes a game and everyone stays healthy its Clipps in 6.
They know him, they know best tactics is just to ignore him on the court. I hope Adelman does not stuck to rotation, but subs more on feeling during the games.
Jokic will have to play 42+ minutes for Nuggets. Murray should have a good series since Zubac plays a lot in the drop but with Murray you never know. Gordon has chosen worst timing to have a shooting slump.
Where i see advantage for Nuggets outside of best player in the league, is in size. Gordon and Porter have size advantage on Powell and Kawhi, but sadly neither can create good enough for them to use it a lot. I hope Gordon can get some switches on Powell and Harden and bully them. Hopefully they can use that size to rebound the fing ball which they didnt do well in the RS.

Clipps are clicking and should be favourites in this one, but they also had so much bad luck that no1 can really trust them. Who knows, they need just one lucky run for us to change opinions.

This one is the only one im having trouble who to bet on. I think OKC/Lakers/Warriors(if they win playin) are favourites by quite a margin, but here i wouldnt be surprised if it goes 4-1 to any side.

[BelgradeNugget]

Interesting thing will be Braun - Harden dynamics. Braun will guard Harden and he is leading the league in fastbreak points. If there is no swich in Nuggets defense, Harden will be the one who has to stop the best fastbreak scorrer in the league. Every Clippers missed shot/Nuggets rebound will be Nuggets fastbreak oportunity. Also Braun is one of the best off-ball cuters in half court. Harden will have to be engaged and focused for all 24 secs on shot clock on defense.

Just because Brain will try to slowdown Harden doesn't mean that on the flip side, especially in the half court, that James will be on Chris. Most likely will have Norm on Braun while Harden is on Gordon, due to James' uncanny ability to be decent in the post on D, if not on Porter due to him just floating around the arc more often than not.

Yes in halfcourt Clippers will have options, especially since Harden has been very underrated post defender in his career, but after miss and Nuggets rebound there is no option for swiching. Whoever Braun was guarding will have to run back like crazy.

[OkcSinceSGA]

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[MarcusBrody]

If Westbrook plays more then 10 minutes a game and everyone stays healthy its Clipps in 6.
They know him, they know best tactics is just to ignore him on the court. I hope Adelman does not stuck to rotation, but subs more on feeling during the games.
Jokic will have to play 42+ minutes for Nuggets. Murray should have a good series since Zubac plays a lot in the drop but with Murray you never know. Gordon has chosen worst timing to have a shooting slump.
Where i see advantage for Nuggets outside of best player in the league, is in size. Gordon and Porter have size advantage on Powell and Kawhi, but sadly neither can create good enough for them to use it a lot. I hope Gordon can get some switches on Powell and Harden and bully them. Hopefully they can use that size to rebound the fing ball which they didnt do well in the RS.

Clipps are clicking and should be favourites in this one, but they also had so much bad luck that no1 can really trust them. Who knows, they need just one lucky run for us to change opinions.

This one is the only one im having trouble who to bet on. I think OKC/Lakers/Warriors(if they win playin) are favourites by quite a margin, but here i wouldnt be surprised if it goes 4-1 to any side.

I wouldn't say that either Porter Jr or Gordon have a size advantage on Kawhi. Porter Jr. is taller, but Kawhi has a wingspan that is 3 inches longer than either and a strength advantage. Both would be bigger than Powell, so I'll be interested to see who Kawhi guards. I'd guess Gordon as he both plays bigger and would let Kawhi be more in the thick of things, but if MPJ got hot, he could shoot over Powell.

[picc]

Gordon on Kawhi is a good matchup for Denver. He's big and strong enough and fast enough to really bother him. I think that's a win scenario for Denver as far as defensive matchups. Kawhi isn't the switch-hunter that Harden is either so he'll probably accept the task, which is also a win for Denver.

Braun on Harden is initially an L for Denver, but I think Braun will get used to Harden over the course of the series and Harden's averages will start to dwindle -- as they typically do the later a series goes.

OTOH, LA is a nightmare matchup for Denver on the perimeter. Dunn, DJJ, and Kawhi are all good defenders for Murray. Zubac will probably not get help against Jokic, limiting the easier shots for the other guys. If Kawhi is on Gordon, he won't be doing much of anything either.

MPJ's performance this series will be critical to if Denver advances. And you know that's bad news, because I haven't seen him really show up in years.

Denver will need a throwback performance from Westbrook to win this. The good news is, I think that's possible.

1. He'll have a serious grudge against the Clippers
2. Westbrook is one of the best Harden defenders in the league

Of course, he'll kill you in crunchtime, but I don't think this new coach will put him out there in crunchtime. If Westbrook can come in and maximize his minutes, put some clamps on Harden, and then let Braun close the games, I like Denver's chances.

I can realistically see a scenario where Westbrook has one of the best series of his life against the Clippers, helping to eliminate them, and then catastrophically self-destructs and takes Denver with him against OKC.