2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West First Round: #4 Denver Nuggets vs #5 LA Clippers (Series tied 2-2)

[SpurNani]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

[Ruma85]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

it's still April I get it.

[tsherkin]

Bro he’s just saying words to get to some Harden>Jokic conclusion. All time or now, or both. Im not sure lol

Yeah, true enough.

Harden's good, I mean, he's killing it out there. But Kawhi, Zubac and even Powell are helping the team have the success which LA is enjoying too, right? And it's annoying when people argue in such bad faith and ignore relevant details.

[darkse1d]

Then maybe the best option against the Clippers is to not have Jokic bring the ball up every possession and play more like a big to get Zubac in foul trouble. Take him to the block, while the guards look for him and see if he can get to the free throw line. Now, you may say that the Nuggets don't play that way typically and I would agree. However, maybe that is an adjustment that needs to be made. Jokic being a play finisher rather than a play initiator.

And before someone says that would hurt the Nuggets, what do they have to lose by trying it? Doing what they're currently doing is going to lose them the series anyway.

Won't work because the clippers will keep packing the paint and are content with nuggets non shooters bricking 3s.

So basically don't try anything different?

Well unless they can implement a new offensive system by tomorrow afternoon or somehow everyone on the nuggets become an average 3 point shooter then no, they can't do much else.

To open up the paint, Murray,.mpj, Gordon, Braun and Westbrook need to go crazy from 3 to keep the defense honest.

[2weekswithpay]

These are two plays before the one I clipped. Jokic is off-ball here, but Simmons is being physical with him, and Batum is there to face guard him. Jokic counters by using Batum as a screen, but Russ gets called for the charge. The Nuggets take advantage of this by hitting Jokic over the top of the defense, but once again, you have Simmons being physical and Batum face guarding. Off-ball or on-ball, the Clippers are showing multiple defenders at Jokic and making him work to get to his spots. In this particular lineup, nobody cares about Russ, Pickett, or Watson. Harden doesn't even pretend to guard Russ in either play. Letting someone else initiate the offense doesn't always work.

[SpurNani]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

it's still April I get it.

My number one cant be content with taking 15 and 14 shots in must win consecutive games. That is less shots than the Kobe “I quit” game when he refused to shoot the ball and got crucified for it.

Jokic rather fling the ball to Westbrick and secure his triple double than go get a bucket.

[Cubbies2120]

Lots of pressure on him in game 4! All timers lead in these situations, they don't play their normal game and hope their teammates, who aren't all stars, rasie their game and come through. This is on Jokic.

Do they?

Do we need to remind you about Harden quitting vs. Spurs (10 pts, 6 TO, 11 FGA vs. Kawhi-less Spurs in a 39 point elimination game rout)?
About Kobe quitting in Game 7 vs the Suns (3 FGA all 2nd half)?
About LeBron quitting in 2010 vs. the Celtics?

I don't think any of Jokic's games were on par with the quit level displayed there ^

[Ruma85]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

it's still April I get it.

My number one cant be content with taking 15 and 14 shots in must win consecutive games. That is less shots than the Kobe “I quit” game when he refused to shoot the ball and got crucified for it.

Jokic rather fling the ball to Westbrick and secure his triple double than go get a bucket.

Did hey get spanked yes, is every game important yes, but this was not must win, I get it Jokić is the best player should get blame aswell, but basketball is a team sport.

[2weekswithpay]

Read on Twitter

Interesting stats for those that said Jokic is being doubled and swarmed all game. I imagine he’s usually doubled a lot more than 10-15%? Or is the error in what is considered a double team maybe?

This matches what I saw, but also a bit deceiving if framed the wrong way. Just an example, the Clippers started switching Zubac on Murray a bit more in this game. This takes away the Jokic pick and pop, and Murray has to be the one to score. When Jokic tries to take advantage of a smaller defender, he sees multiple defenders. Dunn does a great job of fronting him, and Harden is there to help if Braun tries to lob it. Gordon flashes to the middle but can't make the shot. The Clippers don't double when Zubac is guarding him, but Jokic still gets a ridiculous amount of the defense's attention. Sometimes it's a hard double, and sometimes it's players being positioned in a way to discourage him from scoring.

The problem here is Murray deflating the ball by overdribbling and taking a tough shot over a 7-footer. The correct adjustment is to have Braun come up to the top of 3 point line and jokic to go to the paint opposite of zubac and work from there.

Murray swings to Braun, Braun passes the ball to jokic deep inside the paint. This is what Ty Lue did with zubac and got him open looks.

The nuggets need to move offensively and keep swinging the ball. Of course that won't work overnight. A new system needs to be implemented in the off season to reduce the reliance on jokic to do everything

With only 10 seconds left on the clock, I'm not confident you can create a better shot. The Clippers aren't giving up any easy shots Dunn is ready to fight Jokic for position, and when Jokic posts up, Gordon is ideally on the opposite side. If Gordon is strong side, you have his defender helping, and if he's weak side, Zubac switches on Gordon so he can help defend Jokic in the paint.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Read on Twitter

I’ll keep repeating what I said before the series. Batum needs a ton of minutes this series. 25+ every game.

[Ruma85]

Read on Twitter

I’ll keep repeating what I said before the series. Batum needs a ton of minutes this series. 25+ every game.

Confused, what does this mean, them guarding players & what percentage they shoot from they field?

[OkcSinceSGA]

Read on Twitter

I’ll keep repeating what I said before the series. Batum needs a ton of minutes this series. 25+ every game.

Confused, what does this mean, them guarding players & what percentage they shoot from they field?

Yes. Percentage players shoot against them aggregated with them as the defender.

[darkse1d]

These are two plays before the one I clipped. Jokic is off-ball here, but Simmons is being physical with him, and Batum is there to face guard him. Jokic counters by using Batum as a screen, but Russ gets called for the charge. The Nuggets take advantage of this by hitting Jokic over the top of the defense, but once again, you have Simmons being physical and Batum face guarding. Off-ball or on-ball, the Clippers are showing multiple defenders at Jokic and making him work to get to his spots. In this particular lineup, nobody cares about Russ, Pickett, or Watson. Harden doesn't even pretend to guard Russ in either play. Letting someone else initiate the offense doesn't always work.

first clip - russ had jokic running to the basket and watson underneath the basket for open shot. Instead he does the dumbest thing ever. Typical westbrook.

second clip - much better recognition by russ to pass it over the defenders.

[tsherkin]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

it's still April I get it.

My number one cant be content with taking 15 and 14 shots in must win consecutive games. That is less shots than the Kobe “I quit” game when he refused to shoot the ball and got crucified for it.

Jokic rather fling the ball to Westbrick and secure his triple double than go get a bucket.

This is basically the same tired BS people used to say about Magic, FWIW. It wasn't insightful then, and it isn't now.

[trickshot]

Nuggets aren't that bad in quality. It's just a really bad matchup, Clippers are just by far their worst matchup. No one else has both a starter level PnR maestro and big like Harden and Zu to work Jokic. He looked gassed early on dealing with that and running the offense.

[Beethoven]

Clippers have the potential to permanently close the door on mcnuggetz acclaimed "fifteen minutes of fame"
and
brutalize okc and show that their reigning mvp & remaining offense is a bit of a sham



would be highly entertaining to see Rockets slam the door shut on gsw's chances now that they have the golden opportunity in Game 3 and maybe even Game 4.

[Mrakar]

Nuggets now confirmed what was obvious last 2 games, Gordon is playing on one leg. Nuggets were underdog when healthy because they have some serious roster construction problems and depth issues. Now that Gordon is playing on one leg and Porter Jr. with one arm, this series is over. Nuggets can maybe win one game if they get hot(which is hard since outside Murray they dont have guys that can get hot).
I just hope for the sake of next round that at least clippers stay healthy so they can show a fight against OKC.
Maybe the new Nuggets FO can now see that they can ride a season with 5 guys and expect them to be fresh and healthy for playoffs. Gordon played whole season with this injury but couldnt ever get healthy since they had to rush him back bcs of lack of depth.

[Mrakar]

it's still April I get it.

My number one cant be content with taking 15 and 14 shots in must win consecutive games. That is less shots than the Kobe “I quit” game when he refused to shoot the ball and got crucified for it.

Jokic rather fling the ball to Westbrick and secure his triple double than go get a bucket.

This is basically the same tired BS people used to say about Magic, FWIW. It wasn't insightful then, and it isn't now.

Why u guys even try. He is troll, formerly known as Chokic. Either that or just brainless, but i refuse to believe that any1 who watched a game of NBA basketball can be so dumb.

[madmaxmedia]

Read on Twitter

Interesting stats for those that said Jokic is being doubled and swarmed all game. I imagine he’s usually doubled a lot more than 10-15%? Or is the error in what is considered a double team maybe?

This matches what I saw, but also a bit deceiving if framed the wrong way. Just an example, the Clippers started switching Zubac on Murray a bit more in this game. This takes away the Jokic pick and pop, and Murray has to be the one to score. When Jokic tries to take advantage of a smaller defender, he sees multiple defenders. Dunn does a great job of fronting him, and Harden is there to help if Braun tries to lob it. Gordon flashes to the middle but can't make the shot. The Clippers don't double when Zubac is guarding him, but Jokic still gets a ridiculous amount of the defense's attention. Sometimes it's a hard double, and sometimes it's players being positioned in a way to discourage him from scoring.

This sums it up well. It's not strictly a man-on-man matchup (Jokic would score more points if this was the case), nor are they over-committing to double or trap whenever he gets the ball (Jokic could pick those apart with his passing.) Jokic senses this too, so overall he has tighter/messier windows to operate in, and a strong defender in Zu who he can't easily back down every time. Obviously within this context, Jokic is still getting triple doubles, but if Zu gets 19/9 to Jokic's 23/12/12 or whatever, the Clippers will take that every time because look at the other players.

[og15]

I think ultimately what this series is proving is that Jokic is a #2 on a championship team against upper tier competition.

Just remember to use this methodology consistently across players past and present and see what you come up with lol