Game Thread 04/03: Pacers vs. Nuggets

[Jake0890]

Domas was getting abused by Jokic. Glad Turner is back in.

[BooomBaby]

Game's been over, just move on to the next one.

[Wizop]

I was going to write it wasn't a loss of a 3 point game, and then it was.

Sent from my phone.

[basketballwacko2]

I knew this would be a tough game. Jokic is freaking great, a 2nd round pick!!

[Pacersike]

Jokic is a pretty awesome player. We had a very hard time slowing him down. Nor Sabonis could, nor our rim protector/shot blocker could.

If you have a statline like Oladipo, it is not the worst thing playing defense like him tonight. That's why you have other players, to defend Barton and Jokic. BoBo not hitting his shots, doesn't leave much else. Turner has room to improve his defense.
His rebounding has been the same since his rookie year though. Poor for his height. For a guy working extremely hard in practice, that's a reason for concern.

[Pacersike]

I knew this would be a tough game. Jokic is freaking great, a 2nd round pick!!

Don't let the late pick fool you.

It is extremely hard to build a contender around a weak defensive center like Jokic. Centers anchor defenses and nobody else of the 4 can do it like 5s.

Because he is so freaking amazing offensively he is even bigger fools gold than the Kevin Loves, Al Jeffersons and Vucevics of this world.

I would never build a team around a center like Jokic so if I was picking late in the first round again with him on the board, I might still pass on him.

He is first round playoffs material with few options to play adequate defense when it matters most. Good pick but his awesome offense makes it hard not to start him and starting him makes you vulnerable defensively, so I would do like most teams and avoid players like him.

[basketballwacko2]

Jokic is not a great defender but he's like a 7 foot point guard. He's got a nice shot and his passing is excellent.

[Vorda]

Jokić destroyed Turner last year in London... now he did it again... poor Myles... now he definetly need a rest to forget this...

[BooomBaby]

Turner's soft and weak, any good and physical center will always destroy him.

I like him but sadly I've seen enough to know that it's always gonna be that way.

[BooomBaby]

If we go up against Philly in the playoffs, I'm afraid to see how Embiid is going to abuse both him and Sabonis.

[Vorda]

We should hope that Joel will not be ready for at least 2-3 games in First round...

[8305]

In our matchups with Philly Turner has held his own against Embiid.

[Wizop]

Simmons and Saric will be trouble just as Barton was.

Sent from my phone.

[Pacers_Freak]

Simmons and Saric will be trouble just as Barton was.

Sent from my phone.

Simmons is phenomenal. No question. I do think some of his offensive effectiveness will drop in the playoffs. When the game slows down that is going to hurt him.

[granger05]

I got to go to this one. Actually, this was eye-opening:

Last Time Pacers won in Denver: Nov 27, 2007 Indiana Pacers @ Denver Nuggets W 112 - 110

I've lived out in Colorado and gone to the Pacers game every year since about 2001. I didn't realize how futile that had been. Oladipo really asserted himself later in the 4th. The Pacers needed him to shift into that gear a lot earlier. It felt like the Pacers were fighting back from big deficits all night. They just couldn't get over the hump.