Game 8: Denver Nuggets (6-1) @ Cleveland Cavaliers (1-6) - 7:00 PM ET

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 8:29 pm

Post #2 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 8:45 pm

Denver playing on the road on the East once vs every eastern team, so all these away games vs weakest Eastern teams are "must win" for Nuggets. Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic. We almost lose yesterday first such must-win game, let's hope we will not play so bad twice in the row.

tundraknight · Post #3 » by **tundraknight** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 9:30 pm

THE J0KER wrote:Denver playing on the road on the East once vs every eastern team, so all these away games vs weakest Eastern teams are "must win" for Nuggets. Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic. We almost lose yesterday first such must-win game, let's hope we will not play so bad twice in the row.

Do you think fatigue will be a factor?

Not only a second night of a back to back, but last nights game went to overtime. So extra minutes were played for the starters.

Also today’s game start time is one hour before last nights game start time. So that’s a back to back in less than 24 hours.

Post #4 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 9:55 pm

tundraknight wrote:
THE J0KER wrote:Denver playing on the road on the East once vs every eastern team, so all these away games vs weakest Eastern teams are "must win" for Nuggets. Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic. We almost lose yesterday first such must-win game, let's hope we will not play so bad twice in the row.

Do you think fatigue will be a factor?

Not only a second night of a back to back, but last nights game went to overtime. So extra minutes were played for the starters.

Also today’s game start time is one hour before last nights game start time. So that’s a back to back in less than 24 hours.

We beat GSW in b2b game, and we played only 2 games in the past 6 days, both vs mediocre opponents (CHI, and NOP without AD) so fatigue is not a factor why we played so badly in big parts of this two games, and would not be a real excuse if we do it once again tonight vs Cleveland which playing without LeBron, Love, and motivation, compared to last season. Cavs can't win this game, but Nuggets can lose if repeat yesterday's level.

skywalker33 · Post #5 » by **skywalker33** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 10:08 pm

7-1 looks within reach....if we don’t come out with another pathetic effort. Stay strong, be aggressive early Jokic !!!

Post #6 » by **THE J0KER** » Thu Nov 1, 2018 11:41 pm

15-27 first quarter -12

We scored only 15 points in a quarter vs a team with a worst defensive rating in the league so far.
This is a new low for this season.

But Cavs are so weak, we still should win this easily.

Post #7 » by **THE J0KER** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 12:22 am

35-15 in the 2nd quarter... that is an improvement

But I'm still shocked how on the Earth we lose first quarter 27-15 vs such opponent

Nice to see Malone decided to stop mobbing Juancho today, and gives him a chance.

Post #8 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 3:54 am

Inexplicable slow start - once they got going, they were fine.
If Jokic is injured, they need to stop playing him and let him get better. He had two lethargic games before this one and I don't know what to call this game for him. Our starters just seemed out-of-it from start to finish.

Powder Blue · Post #9 » by **Powder Blue** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 4:13 am

Best start in 40 years and all ya’ll wanna do is nitpick everything around Jokic. Seems like this board is filling with folks concerned more with Jokic stat lines than the team’s results. No need to be playing our best ball in Oct-Nov. Take the road B2B wins and be happy.

youngthegiant · Post #10 » by **youngthegiant** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 6:43 am

Powder Blue wrote:Best start in 40 years and all ya’ll wanna do is nitpick everything around Jokic. Seems like this board is filling with folks concerned more with Jokic stat lines than the team’s results. No need to be playing our best ball in Oct-Nov. Take the road B2B wins and be happy.

My biggest complaint is Torrey Craig, he just makes everyone worse in the starting lineup. He's done nothing on the floor to deserve a starting spot over Beasley/Juancho. Both have outplayed him and it's clear Malone favors him because he can "trust him".

Post #11 » by **The Rebel** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 11:45 am

youngthegiant wrote:
Powder Blue wrote:Best start in 40 years and all ya’ll wanna do is nitpick everything around Jokic. Seems like this board is filling with folks concerned more with Jokic stat lines than the team’s results. No need to be playing our best ball in Oct-Nov. Take the road B2B wins and be happy.
My biggest complaint is Torrey Craig, he just makes everyone worse in the starting lineup. He's done nothing on the floor to deserve a starting spot over Beasley/Juancho. Both have outplayed him and it's clear Malone favors him because he can "trust him".

I have to agree with you, Craig should only be getting spot minutes right now, he is the worst SG/SF on the roster and is significantly less talented than either Beasley or Juancho. Our offense sucks with Craig in the lineup because teams know they don't have to guard him, even last night he passed up 4 wide open 3s, while his guy was in the paint. His defense is also overstated, I personally do not think he is as effective as Juancho or Beasley on that end, but he looks like he tries harder so Malone probably thinks he is.

Jokic, Harris, and Murray all will be fine, Jokic and Murray always start the season off slow, but until Malone figures out he needs more spacing in the starting lineup things will be more difficult than they should be.

Post #12 » by **NuggetsWY** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 12:43 pm

Powder Blue wrote:Best start in 40 years and all ya’ll wanna do is nitpick everything around Jokic. Seems like this board is filling with folks concerned more with Jokic stat lines than the team’s results. No need to be playing our best ball in Oct-Nov. Take the road B2B wins and be happy.

Poor play is poor preparation for good play. The Nuggets need to develop good habits.

U hova · Post #13 » by **U hova** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 12:56 pm

Juancho should be starting to be frank.

I do worry a little about what will happen to the bench - it might be weird to complain about a team that's 7-1 but the offense isn't there.

Powder Blue · Post #14 » by **Powder Blue** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 2:45 pm

I’m onboard with the Juancho/Craig swap in the starting lineup, pretty clear Juancho provides much better spacing.

It doesn’t surprise me that Malone would make a “defensive” substitution tho, even if it’s just the perception of defensive. Been the dudes MO throughout his time in Denver...and he was awarded an extension for such decisions.

TunaFish · Post #15 » by **TunaFish** » Fri Nov 2, 2018 5:48 pm

Down 36-32 in the second period with both Hernangomez and Beasley hitting their shots, they inserted Harris as the point guard. It is not often we see Harris playing point. Shortly the game was tied.

Even the commentators noted that Harris seemed to have improved his ball handling. I think we may see more of Harris at the point.