Game 29: Toronto Raptors (23-8) @ Denver Nuggets (19-9) - 8:00 PM ET

ducler · Post #1 » by **ducler** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:33 pm

skywalker33 · Post #2 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:18 pm

TOR seems as banged up as we are, Pascal, Lowry , FVV and Val are all reported out. Hopefully we're more adept at playing without our injured than they are....let go get the BROOM !!

Post #3 » by **NuggetsWY** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:27 pm

skywalker33 wrote:TOR seems as banged up as we are, Pascal, Lowry , FVV and Val are all reported out. Hopefully we're more adept at playing without our injured than they are....let go get the BROOM !!

Well, they are 6-4 in their last 10 games and for a "struggling" team; that's not bad. In our last 10 games, we are 8-2 and while we didn't have all the injuries for all of that, we certainly had some. In our last game against Toronto, Harris only played 10 minutes before his injury and we were missing Barton. Other than that, we were fairly healthy.

I agree that we could sweep them for the season!

skywalker33 · Post #4 » by **skywalker33** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:25 pm

When we win it would bring us to 1.5 games of the top record in the NBA...w/o 3 of 5 starters. I'd call that rather impressive !!!

Post #5 » by **THE J0KER** » Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:59 pm

If VanVleet will be also out, Denver should be the bold favorite to win, considering big playmaking problem for the opponent.

With him in, Toronto has some chances, but I hope the home court advantage will decide the winner.

youngthegiant · Post #6 » by **youngthegiant** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 1:34 am

Nice adjustment by Malone. Staggering Jokic and Lyles. He's made some big improvements as a coach.

Post #7 » by **NuggetsWY** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:00 am

Toronto had an interesting defensive strategy - let Jokic shoot. :lol:

It kept him from getting assists and kept the Nuggets from executing the NBA's best offense (((throw the ball to Jokic and everyone move, move, move))).

Anyone remember the last few years where we could lose any game? Not so much this year, they've got me convinced they have learned how to win.

Post #8 » by **THE J0KER** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:05 am

Important win thanks to sensational 23-2 run from 57-70 to 80-72. Murrey was invisible before last quarter, but in 4th he outscored Raptors team alone! And Morris is probably our 3rd most important player now when 3 starters are out, playing today 37 minutes.

Craig is not as good as last game vs OKC, but played near 40 minutes, thanks to mini-slump Beasley and Juancho have in past two games. Jokic definitely has big problems with passing playing together with Plumlee, so it is crucial now for him to stay shooting hot and aggressive.

BTW using players which didn't play tonight Lowry, Harris, Barton, Siakam, Millsap, JV, IT... you can create team enough good to reach the playoff, so it would be unfair this today's game call showdown between best teams from the East and West. But that will not change the importance of this big win.

Sgt Major · Post #9 » by **Sgt Major** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:18 am

I don't see a problem with his passing, it's the other guys who missed a lot of open shots tonight who made him like he's having less assists than he usually does.

skywalker33 · Post #10 » by **skywalker33** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:27 am

BEST team in the NBA

Post #11 » by **THE J0KER** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:35 am

Sgt Major wrote:I don't see a problem with his passing, it's the other guys who missed a lot of open shots tonight who made him like he's having less assists than he usually does.

It is not a new phenom, we know about it already last season when Millsap was injured too. Jokic has 28 assists with just 3TO in only two games right before Millsap injury, but then in last 5 games, he has 32 assists with 17TO. But he compensates it with good rebounding and 24+ pts in every of the last 4 games.

skywalker33 · Post #12 » by **skywalker33** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 5:49 am

Speaking about Jokic, he's stepped up hi scoring to 25PPG over the past three games with Milsap out. League has got to take notice he's carrying this team when his team needs him most !!

Post #13 » by **NuggetsWY** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:34 am

THE J0KER wrote:
Sgt Major wrote:I don't see a problem with his passing, it's the other guys who missed a lot of open shots tonight who made him like he's having less assists than he usually does.
It is not a new phenom, we know about it already last season when Millsap was injured too. Jokic has 28 assists with just 3TO in only two games right before Millsap injury, but then in last 5 games, he has 32 assists with 17TO. But he compensates it with good rebounding and 24+ pts in every of the last 4 games.

Our shooting wasn't great but it wasn't terrible - except in the paint. :banghead:

Jokic's lack of assists was basically because of lack of movement - which also tends to force him to shoot more.

skywalker33 wrote:Speaking about Jokic, he's stepped up hi scoring to 25PPG over the past three games with Milsap out. League has got to take notice he's carrying this team when his team needs him most !!

Jokic is a truly team-oriented player and as much as that can be frustrating when he doesn't take shots (with our full line-up). He's proving that he knows when the team needs him to shoot. It's hard to quantify his greatness until we look at him over many games and I'm looking forward to quantifying his greatest over many Nuggets' years.

Sgt Major · Post #14 » by **Sgt Major** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:18 pm

What a nice win. As other posters had often pointed out, it's wonderful to see the Nuggets winning most of the games when they struggled and a huge improvement in closing the tied games on top. But what I like the most is seeing the sincere family-like atmosphere between all those young guys. Watching the highlights with so many different angles shows how other player react to one scoring a tough basket and scenes of Murray fist pumping after Jokic's insane layups, the smiles on the bench after alley-oops etc. really warm my heart up.

And this is exactly why I think the Nuggets should pass on any possibility to sign another superstar, among the likes of Durant and Kawhi for example. In my opinion, such move would ruin the chemistry these fine lads have and the advantage such superstar would have over a player already covering the same position wouldn't bring more value to this team than the said chemistry ensures. The Nuggets are building their powerhouse by themselves and don't need help of an outsider who would draw the attention to himself.

Post #15 » by **THE J0KER** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 7:48 pm

I must say that the modern day NBA stars are less alpha-dog leaders than ever, and old school "this is my team" mindset of biggest stars is not that often like before. So most of the stars if joined Nuggets next summer will just bring extra quality without breaking team chemistry. A good example is the Millsap case, which comes to Denver as 4-time all-star, signed a 3-year max deal, but instead of trying to show everyone that Nuggets are his team, Millsap from the first day in Denver tried to convince Jokic that he should be the leader of the team. So, if there is some chance to sign some big star this summer, we should not be afraid. Old school "leaders" which probably will not fit current Nuggets chemistry like Westbrook, Cousins, Wall... are in minority now.

Sgt Major · Post #16 » by **Sgt Major** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:26 pm

Makes sense, but Millsap is nowhere near the tier in which aforementioned Durant and Kawhi, so I didn't think about the players like him.

Mickey8 · Post #17 » by **Mickey8** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 8:51 pm

THE J0KER wrote:I must say that the modern day NBA stars are less alpha-dog leaders than ever, and old school "this is my team" mindset of biggest stars is not that often like before. So most of the stars if joined Nuggets next summer will just bring extra quality without breaking team chemistry. A good example is the Millsap case, which comes to Denver as 4-time all-star, signed a 3-year max deal, but instead of trying to show everyone that Nuggets are his team, Millsap from the first day in Denver tried to convince Jokic that he should be the leader of the team. So, if there is some chance to sign some big star this summer, we should not be afraid. Old school "leaders" which probably will not fit current Nuggets chemistry like Westbrook, Cousins, Wall... are in minority now.

Millsap is inferior player to Jokic, I dont know how can it be his team, I hate labels like "his"team , team is a team , there should be hierarchy of course and on the top is unquestionably Jokic, he's the pretty much Denver's system.

TunaFish · Post #18 » by **TunaFish** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:41 pm

Mickey8 wrote:
THE J0KER wrote:I must say that the modern day NBA stars are less alpha-dog leaders than ever, and old school "this is my team" mindset of biggest stars is not that often like before. So most of the stars if joined Nuggets next summer will just bring extra quality without breaking team chemistry. A good example is the Millsap case, which comes to Denver as 4-time all-star, signed a 3-year max deal, but instead of trying to show everyone that Nuggets are his team, Millsap from the first day in Denver tried to convince Jokic that he should be the leader of the team. So, if there is some chance to sign some big star this summer, we should not be afraid. Old school "leaders" which probably will not fit current Nuggets chemistry like Westbrook, Cousins, Wall... are in minority now.

Millsap is inferior player to Jokic, I dont know how can it be his team, I hate labels like "his"team , team is a team , there should be hierarchy of course and on the top is unquestionably Jokic, he's the pretty much Denver's system.

Millsap is the highest paid Nugget so some expectations are to be expected. For anyone who follows this club like you do, we all know how special Jokic is and who is the best player on this club.

I am starting to think perhaps we should be preparing for even bigger goals for Jokic. If these last two games show anything it is that Jokic with Murray can win against anybody.

Post #19 » by **NuggetsWY** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:47 pm

Mickey8 wrote:
THE J0KER wrote:I must say that the modern day NBA stars are less alpha-dog leaders than ever, and old school "this is my team" mindset of biggest stars is not that often like before. So most of the stars if joined Nuggets next summer will just bring extra quality without breaking team chemistry. A good example is the Millsap case, which comes to Denver as 4-time all-star, signed a 3-year max deal, but instead of trying to show everyone that Nuggets are his team, Millsap from the first day in Denver tried to convince Jokic that he should be the leader of the team. So, if there is some chance to sign some big star this summer, we should not be afraid. Old school "leaders" which probably will not fit current Nuggets chemistry like Westbrook, Cousins, Wall... are in minority now.

Millsap is inferior player to Jokic, I dont know how can it be his team, I hate labels like "his"team , team is a team , there should be hierarchy of course and on the top is unquestionably Jokic, he's the pretty much Denver's system.

Yeah, we all know this is Jokic's team - but he sure doesn't act like it. That's a big part of why this team has such great chemistry and kudos to Millsap for keeping the right attitude too. He's clearly a very important part of the team, but he's never tried to make it about himself.

Mickey8 · Post #20 » by **Mickey8** » Mon Dec 17, 2018 9:50 pm

It doesn't matter how much he makes , he's not Lebron or KD , Since Jokic sophomore season it was clear whos team Denver is, as I said I hate that label, basketball is the team sport.