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

[AleksandarN]

Nuggets are a mess and they don't even have a real coach.

The main thing is that there's been a major vibes change and the lid has been taken off of the pressure cooker that was in the locker room, and you can see it in the way they've been playing since the change. Normally I would never advocate for a change this late in the season but I gotta hand it to Josh Kroenke with this one.

Now, if that's enough runway to get the jet back off the ground remains to be seen.

Look, Adelman looks like a boy in kindergarten, there's no way NBA players can take him seriously. he's a placeholder, not a HC. I agree they will be playing about the same and this core has alot of experience playing together so it isn't a huge deal, Jokic will be the coach this post season and that's fine

However, they're a mess irregardless of coaching..they have glaring holee in their depth, Murray hasn't been right all year, MPJ is a great shooter but is also one of the lowest i.q players in the league and will be bum hunted on the perimeter by Kawhi, Harden, Norm etc

Murray's backups are Russ and Pickett lol and Adelman is just as dumb as Malone and will play WB in the clutch, which will cost them a game or two for sure

Clippers have gotten healthy and peaked at the right time and Lue is a great playoffs coach, i just can't see the Nuggets pulling this off

trading for Bogi was super smart, his shooting and poise are going to be an x factor for the Clips in this postseason off the bench imo and is really gonna shine vs. the Nuggets and their schemes

You obviously haven’t followed the Nuggets other than Jokic. Adleman very well respected in the locker room players love him. He is know as an offensive mastermind.

[Exp0sed]

The main thing is that there's been a major vibes change and the lid has been taken off of the pressure cooker that was in the locker room, and you can see it in the way they've been playing since the change. Normally I would never advocate for a change this late in the season but I gotta hand it to Josh Kroenke with this one.

Now, if that's enough runway to get the jet back off the ground remains to be seen.

[b]Look, Adelman looks like a boy in kindergarten, there's no way NBA players

You obviously haven’t followed the Nuggets other than Jokic. Adleman very well respected in the locker room players love him. He is know as an offensive mastermind.

Stop it, lol

I follow the Nuggets plenty. "David Adelman" and "mastermind" in the same sentence isn't something u hear everyday lmfao

He's a placeholder like I said, being an NBA coach's son and having a lifelong career in basketball should def make him plenty knowledgable about the game and he might even be a good player developmental coach with a good eye for detail (i.e - an assistant in practice)

I'm sure he's a nice and intelligent guy but he's not NBA HC material, i'm not saying i follow the Nuggets off court issues very closely (I certainaly don't) but i don't need to in this case. weird choice to double down on his coaching quality, that's a very strange hill to die on but suit urself

[Wolfgang630]

Ben Simmons got to be Jokic in practice

[OkcSinceSGA]

Read on Twitter

This is actually huge. Batum is probably gonna be the 5th best and most important player in this series.

Batum is crucial for the non Zubac mins especially (and in general)

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

After the 3 stars I think he’s even more important than Powell this series. He’s mobile, can guard 4-5 positions and has length. He’s also been on fire on catch and shoot 3s last two months. Need him bad

[Black Jack]

Clips can in theory beat anyone if Kawhi has enough to give physically but I have no idea if he does.

[Mamba81p]

When healthy Clippers are the second best team in the west.
They have 2 potential issues: 1 is obviously health, but the second one is that Harden always sucks after game 4 In Playoff series.

[AleksandarN]

[b]Look, Adelman looks like a boy in kindergarten, there's no way NBA players

You obviously haven’t followed the Nuggets other than Jokic. Adleman very well respected in the locker room players love him. He is know as an offensive mastermind.

Stop it, lol

I follow the Nuggets plenty. "David Adelman" and "mastermind" in the same sentence isn't something u hear everyday lmfao

He's a placeholder like I said, being an NBA coach's son and having a lifelong career in basketball should def make him plenty knowledgable about the game and he might even be a good player developmental coach with a good eye for detail (i.e - an assistant in practice)

I'm sure he's a nice and intelligent guy but he's not NBA HC material, i'm not saying i follow the Nuggets off court issues very closely (I certainaly don't) but i don't need to in this case. weird choice to double down on his coaching quality, that's a very strange hill to die on but suit urself

You said there is no way NBA players will take him serious. Which is obviously not the truth if you follow the local media in Denver which have said that players really like him you would know. He is very well liked and respected by all of the players. Adelman has been with the team for over 5 yrs. I called you out because you clearly don’t follow the team enough if you did you wouldn’t even make the comment I referenced. But I am sure you know more than the players

Nikola Jokic - “I really think he’s the guy who’s going to be the next head coach because he has that
head for a head coach...He is thinking in front, he knows answers, and he reads and
reacts.”

Michael Porter Jr. after Adelman filled in for Nuggets’ head coach Michael
Malone - “He’s such a good coach. He was so relaxed, had us in the right place all night. He was
giving us confidence, not overreacting to things. It felt like it wasn’t his first time doing it.’’

Jamal Murray - “He puts everybody in the right spots...when it’s time to lock in, he can lock you in. He’ll get on you, and I respect that a lot just because we’re all in it together. I go to him for a
lot of the offensive stuff ... he’s always given me great input on what we can run and
sometimes we have the same ideas. It’s nice to see that what I am feeling in the game
he is also seeing from afar. ... he definitely should be getting more (coaching) offers.”

[scrabbarista]

Ben Simmons got to be Jokic in practice

Jokic was the single most efficient jumpshooter in the NBA among the 98 players to shoot a certain number of attempts this season.

More efficient than Curry, SGA, ANT, or anyone on jumpshots.

Must've felt weird for Simmons.

[One Last Shot]

Harden won 16 of his last 22 games against Jokic. Pick-and-roll to death on Nikola for most part of the series imminent?

[LakersSoul]

Hope Kawhi is healthy!

Should be a great series going toe to toe!

Two heavy weights throwing bombs!

Wonder how Zubac V Joker will turnout.
Wonder if Nuggets have an answer to Kawhi.

Hope to see 7 games of great basketball.
Refs better let the players play and not call tickytack call.

[Exp0sed]

Hope Kawhi is healthy!

Should be a great series going toe to toe!

Two heavy weights throwing bombs!

Wonder how Zubac V Joker will turnout.
Wonder if Nuggets have an answer to Kawhi.

Hope to see 7 games of great basketball.
Refs better let the players play and not call tickytack call.

Kawhi will get his regardless, it's Harden (and Norm) that will decide this series

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

[LakersSoul]

Hope Kawhi is healthy!

Should be a great series going toe to toe!

Two heavy weights throwing bombs!

Wonder how Zubac V Joker will turnout.
Wonder if Nuggets have an answer to Kawhi.

Hope to see 7 games of great basketball.
Refs better let the players play and not call tickytack call.

Kawhi will get his regardless, it's Harden (and Norm) that will decide this series

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

Norm?

Its all about Kawhi, Harden plus Zubac.

On the other side, Joker, Murray plus Braun/Gordon/Porter.

[Exp0sed]

Hope Kawhi is healthy!

Should be a great series going toe to toe!

Two heavy weights throwing bombs!

Wonder how Zubac V Joker will turnout.
Wonder if Nuggets have an answer to Kawhi.

Hope to see 7 games of great basketball.
Refs better let the players play and not call tickytack call.

Kawhi will get his regardless, it's Harden (and Norm) that will decide this series

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

Norm?

Its all about Kawhi, Harden plus Zubac.

On the other side, Joker, Murray plus Braun/Gordon/Porter.

Yeah, the way the Nuggets defense works, Jokic obviously can't close out to the 3 pt. line quickly and\or recover and in time and by default they choose to concede the shot,to conserve Jokic's energy, avoid fouling and have him be in a rebounding position, rather than closing out late which puts him out of position and he's too slow to step out and really bother the shooter anyways. They usually concede the outside shot and the mid-range shot

With Zu crashing the offensive glass it's even more important as neither AG or MPJ can really box him out or even bother him down low


If Powell can make those shots not just consistently but also at a large volume, the Nuggets default strategy will fail

Zu sets mean screens and outside of Braun the Nuggets are very deficient in guards (or players) that can navigate well through screens

Powell will have alot of open looks

Btw, Powell has consistently been lighting up this Denver core, well before he was a Clipper0

[pepe1991]

Ben Simmons got to be Jokic in practice

If Simmons is draftee in 2025, youtubers would be making "meet new Jokić but with 40 inch vertical"

[Jedi32]

If kawhi is fully healthy and plays to the best of his abilities on offense and defense he can be the best player in this series and that would change the entire dynamic of the series.

[LakersSoul]

Kawhi will get his regardless, it's Harden (and Norm) that will decide this series

Sent from my SM-A055F using RealGM mobile app

Norm?

Its all about Kawhi, Harden plus Zubac.

On the other side, Joker, Murray plus Braun/Gordon/Porter.

Yeah, the way the Nuggets defense works, Jokic obviously can't close out to the 3 pt. line quickly and\or recover and in time and by default they choose to concede the shot,to conserve Jokic's energy, avoid fouling and have him be in a rebounding position, rather than closing out late which puts him out of position and he's too slow to step out and really bother the shooter anyways. They usually concede the outside shot and the mid-range shot

With Zu crashing the offensive glass it's even more important as neither AG or MPJ can really box him out or even bother him down low


If Powell can make those shots not just consistently but also at a large volume, the Nuggets default strategy will fail

Zu sets mean screens and outside of Braun the Nuggets are very deficient in guards (or players) that can navigate well through screens

Powell will have alot of open looks

Btw, Powell has consistently been lighting up this Denver core, well before he was a Clipper0

Powell is a scorer but so are Harden, Kawhi and Zubac, who all need the ball to score with Zubac having the option to grab rebounds and score.

Powell gets the left over and Harden can be a facilitator but with the Clippers becoming less and less of a distributor averaging 8.6 assists for the last two years. Not ideal for him and the team.

[BelgradeNugget]

If kawhi is fully healthy and plays to the best of his abilities on offense and defense he can be the best player in this series and that would change the entire dynamic of the series.

It might happened, but when Kawhi was in his peak, fully healthy and played to the best of his abilities on offense and defense, just comming from winning finals MVP, he still wasn't the best player in a series vs Nuggets. Jokic was. Before he won his 1st MVP. In the bubble. So it is possible, but not probably.

[Cubbies2120]

If kawhi is fully healthy and plays to the best of his abilities on offense and defense he can be the best player in this series and that would change the entire dynamic of the series.

No, he can't, unless Jokic is injured.

He can be a not too distant second best player in the series...

[SpurNani]

Ive seen playoff Kawhi do things in a series that Jokic cant, its not out of the question..

[OkcSinceSGA]

Read on Twitter

Man Denver offense gets nuts. It’s truly a matchup of elite defense, middling offense (though with Kawhi all year it’s a top 10 offense) and insane offense+ middling defense.