Game 2: Phoenix Suns (1-0) @ Denver Nuggets (1-0) - 9:00 PM ET

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 5:45 pm

skywalker33 · Post #2 » by **skywalker33** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:55 pm

Probably not the gimme game we thought, PHX showed some fight and firepower in their first game , albeit it was against Dallas. We have to play crisper offense, keep up the defensive effort and Murray and Millsap have to show up on both sides tonight!

Post #3 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:13 pm

skywalker33 wrote:Probably not the gimme game we thought, PHX showed some fight and firepower in their first game , albeit it was against Dallas. We have to play crisper offense, keep up the defensive effort and Murray and Millsap have to show up on both sides tonight!

In Denver, I'd say the Nuggets should win at least 3 of the quarters. But you're right, "crisper offense, keep up the defensive effort" and we definitely need Murray on the defensive end and Millsap on the offensive end.

It should be an interesting game with lots of action. The danger is: the Suns are fairly young overall and we certainly know how unpredictable youth can be and if they get hot, we could have trouble. We can no longer claim "young"; at least not with our top-9 or so. Too many games of experience to claim "young".

Post #4 » by **THE J0KER** » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:58 pm

Denver is simply too good at home even for most of the real playoff contenders, and despite all talent they have, Suns can't be a real playoff contender until they solve big point guard problem.

skywalker33 · Post #5 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 2:32 am

Bench having scoring issues BAD, Lyles o-ferrrr.

Post #6 » by **THE J0KER** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 2:33 am

Sorry, but I will not praise Jokic for his MVP 23 pts in first half. He literally can't miss anything tonight, but still shooting just 7 times?!? If AD, KAT, Boogie, KP.. has such shooting night, they would finish with 35+ pts already on halftime!

Let's hope he will at least reach another triple double.

Post #7 » by **THE J0KER** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 3:40 am

Finally, Jokic achieved his first ever triple-double in the first half of the season - and this time already in 2nd game. But I repeat, he doesn't deserve for what he is (NOT) doing tonight with a perfect shooting night. Instead of at least 60+ he scored tonight just 35 despite literally perfect shooting day.

But let's hope this great night will not be remembered like worst thing which is happening at the start of this season.

Read on Twitter

Non-contact injuries can be really dangerous. Let's hope this is not such case, but just some temporary pain in Barton's groin.

TunaFish · Post #8 » by **TunaFish** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:13 am

Jokic was on fire. The national press should be all over the comparison being made to Wilt Chamberlain.

Heart breaking losing Barton.

skywalker33 · Post #9 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:49 am

Wouldn't be surprised if Barton is out for the season, he just finished a basket then collapsed out of bounds.

Great defensive effort tonight by the whole team, steals galore (although sloppy play by the Suns)

Post #10 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:31 am

Yay! Another win - but one we should have won. It's just nice to see us win.

Agree that while Jokic had a great game stat-wise, he could have done so much more, but that's just the way he is. We can live with that as long as we win. He sure is unique!

Not so sure our defense was that great (like Altitude folk were saying). Seemed more like Harris slowing down Booker (with lots of help on switches) and Phoenix just having a bad night. On the other hand, I saw a lot more help-the-helper type defense and that's what's going to make a team a great defensive team. We have a long way to go, but it's nice to watch the improvement.

Only two games, but Barton has shown that when he doesn't try to dribble behind his back and pass behind his back - he fits quite nicely into the Nuggets offense. More impressive is when you watch him on defense. He's shown a lot more situational awareness in my opinion. We knew he was skilled and he's said all the right things; let's hope he can come back and show us he is everything they expected when they gave him this contract.

KeithCozart · Post #11 » by **KeithCozart** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 8:24 am

@The Joker

I saw your post on general board too. You have to understand he doesn't give a f how many points he scores, the W is most important now.

Post #12 » by **THE J0KER** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:39 am

KeithCozart wrote:@The Joker

I saw your post on general board too. You have to understand he doesn't give a f how many points he scores, the W is most important now.

I also don't give s... how many points he will score, and W is much more important to me, but...

- only once or two times per year, or maybe once in the five years, you have such special night you can score everything - so explore it for history books if you are in position for it
- Denver home win vs Suns was never in question, even before this game started, and of course, there is no connection between our worse chances to win with Jokic scoring more points
- even if Nikola doesn't care, ask any fan which buys a ticket yesterday in Pepsi Center (including eventual Phoenix fan) is he happy, for example, because of witnessed something which not seen in NBA since 1967? If some super skilled player has a very special night, and a great chance for some extraordinary historic achievement, he should do it

And BTW, when we still talking about historic achievements, I must also complain about another thing. Every time when Jokic is close to some super achievement when we already have a solid lead, Malone is there to shot him down! Jokic was 29-10-9 with playing less than 25 minutes on the floor in the 3rd when Malone already sits him down. But in the middle of the 4th we lose our lead from 20+ to under 15, so Malone is forced to back Jokic, otherwise, we would not see yesterday that epic 30+10+10 type of triple-double achievement without FG missed (just 2nd in NBA history) only because Malone don't want to give Joker an extra minute or two. At the end of the day, despite being so superhot, Jokic played fewer minutes than any other Denver starter yesterday (except Barton, but only because of Barton injury) including 7 minutes less than Murray or 5 minutes less than Harris, players which have problems with injuries during the preseason.

Mac1958 · Post #13 » by **Mac1958** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:09 pm

Jokic.

Wow, wow, wow

Mickey8 · Post #14 » by **Mickey8** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:08 pm

Jokic will now have to take much more shots since Barton who is known as a chucker, is out for the long time.

Richard Miller · Post #15 » by **Richard Miller** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:29 pm

THE J0KER wrote: At the end of the day, despite being so superhot, Jokic played fewer minutes than any other Denver starter yesterday (except Barton, but only because of Barton injury) including 7 minutes less than Murray or 5 minutes less than Harris, players which have problems with injuries during the preseason.

The season is long and there's no need to push Jokic to overplay in a game that's going to be a sure W in any case, specially since they are playing the Warriors tonight/back to back games.

Post #16 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:30 pm

Jokic, Harris, Murray all take more shots than Barton - but yeah, that's 10 shots per game he takes.

eathb_au · Post #17 » by **eathb_au** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:39 pm

Feeling really good about the team so far, set up for a really good season. I don't even have qualms about Malone's coaching.

Post #18 » by **THE J0KER** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 1:46 pm

Richard Miller wrote:
THE J0KER wrote: At the end of the day, despite being so superhot, Jokic played fewer minutes than any other Denver starter yesterday (except Barton, but only because of Barton injury) including 7 minutes less than Murray or 5 minutes less than Harris, players which have problems with injuries during the preseason.

The season is long and there's no need to push Jokic to overplay in a game that's going to be a sure W in any case, specially since they are playing the Warriors tonight/back to back games.

Wait... Jokic played until that 29-10-9 moment less than 25 minutes in the game, and he needed just one point and one assist to achieve something never happen in the NBA since 1967! Why Malone at that moment did not sit down some other starter first, Murray, Harris, or Millsap, instead of Jokic only? Or better question, how many current NBA coaches would do the same with their franchise player already during 3rd quarter when he is so close to some epic achievement? I'd say - Mike Malone only!

Post #19 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 5:38 pm

THE J0KER wrote:
Richard Miller wrote:
THE J0KER wrote: At the end of the day, despite being so superhot, Jokic played fewer minutes than any other Denver starter yesterday (except Barton, but only because of Barton injury) including 7 minutes less than Murray or 5 minutes less than Harris, players which have problems with injuries during the preseason.

The season is long and there's no need to push Jokic to overplay in a game that's going to be a sure W in any case, specially since they are playing the Warriors tonight/back to back games.

Wait... Jokic played until that 29-10-9 moment less than 25 minutes in the game, and he needed just one point and one assist to achieve something never happen in the NBA since 1967! Why Malone at that moment did not sit down some other starter first, Murray, Harris, or Millsap, instead of Jokic only? Or better question, how many current NBA coaches would do the same with their franchise player already during 3rd quarter when he is so close to some epic achievement? I'd say - Mike Malone only!

Jokic played 30 minutes - that's reasonable considering the score. Malone has never considered stats/records/so forth and we've seen that before. Like it? Not really, but then again, risking a great player in a game that's out of reach is also dangerous and he would be vilified if Jokic took a season/career ending injury when he didn't have to be on the floor. The records will come and if he ever comes close to an all-time record (like 100 pts in a game); then he should be pushing for it IMO. Will he? I don't know. He clearly didn't seem to understand the significance of last night's statistical anomaly. But then again, it was one I'd never heard of, so who knows. Maybe if he had known about it, it would have been different.

{{and you know I hate defending Malone :lol:

}}

Richard Miller · Post #20 » by **Richard Miller** » Sun Oct 21, 2018 6:25 pm

THE J0KER wrote:
Richard Miller wrote:
THE J0KER wrote: At the end of the day, despite being so superhot, Jokic played fewer minutes than any other Denver starter yesterday (except Barton, but only because of Barton injury) including 7 minutes less than Murray or 5 minutes less than Harris, players which have problems with injuries during the preseason.

The season is long and there's no need to push Jokic to overplay in a game that's going to be a sure W in any case, specially since they are playing the Warriors tonight/back to back games.

Wait... Jokic played until that 29-10-9 moment less than 25 minutes in the game, and he needed just one point and one assist to achieve something never happen in the NBA since 1967! Why Malone at that moment did not sit down some other starter first, Murray, Harris, or Millsap, instead of Jokic only? Or better question, how many current NBA coaches would do the same with their franchise player already during 3rd quarter when he is so close to some epic achievement? I'd say - Mike Malone only!

You think they have someone in their office keeping eye on the historical records in order to alert Malone in due time? That doesn't seem very likely