PLAYOFF-2020 (Game#5, R2): [3]Denver Nuggets vs [2]LA Clippers (1-3), FRI 19:30ET

[THE J0KER]

Do or die for Nuggets, just like against Jazz two weeks ago. But let's be realistic, nobody in NBA history survived 1-3 twice in the same playoff, and healthy and stacked Clippers are a better team than Utah without Bogdanovic. So we should be focussed only on this game 5, even if we going to lose the whole series, 2-4 looks much better than 1-4, and after all 2-3 not seems so hopeless like 1-3. So, let's focus on game#5 and win!

[THE J0KER]

-12 on halftime makes the end of the 2020 season very close. What is the biggest disappointment for me is low energy in a potentiality last official game in this calendar year. Malone's tactical plan to try to surprise the opponent with the upgraded Plumlee role is nothing than bizarre.

Let hope the 2nd half will be better. This season is not that bad at all for Nuggets and deserves a decent last chapter.

[Manolito]

The only positive takeway from today is that we are watching last Nuggets minutes from Plumlee, Millsap and Craig

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[Manolito]

OMG OMG what a comeback!!!!

If only this team were consistent....his upside is amazing

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[Manolito]

MPJ won this game.

Period

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[manchambo]

Interesting that Denver did that without a huge game from Jokic or Murray. They were both good—especially in the 4th. But they didn’t really go off. Hopefully they go off in game 6.

[THE J0KER]

This Nuggets season is way too crazy to be ended on some boring way

Personally, I'm not impressed by Malone changes about this game trying something special with Plumlee in 1st half and Craig in the 2nd. But what makes difference in this game after disappointing 1st half which seems like the one-way ticket to home is the Clippers arrogance 13 minutes before the end when they lead +13 which they showed already in that lost game vs Dallas when KP was out and Paul Millsap 3rd quarter all-star performance which comes right from nowhere this playoff. Malone then shut-down Millsap, following his controversial playing-time decisions this season, but we don't need him anymore today because Jokic and Murray turned into HoF mode final quarter. Porter was once again used wrongly and mostly ignored in the offense, but just his presence in the offense makes Jokic and Murray's life much easier and he brings this team stability with rebounding dominance, so MPJ was once again the Nuggets player with the highest +/-. Ironically, he scored all of his 7 points in the last 77 seconds, just to save coach Malone a*s He proves he is worth every minute on the court he gets even with the silent game.

The key stats are 3pt numbers IMO. Clippers in the first half are 9-17 in 2nd 7-25, while the Nuggets are 3-11 in the first but 9-16 in 2nd. Grant and Harris are once again good in the defense, but one of the best things about this win is that we actually didn't stop Kawhi and George, but still won. Apart from two stars Clippers are 17-46 today, very bad numbers for a team considered to be deepest in the league.

Unlike 1-3, 2-3 is not a hopeless result, but the Clippers are still bold favorites.

[The Rebel]

Imagine that? Getting a 3rd player the ball and letting him score a few suddenly makes the game easier for Jokic and Murray. Jokic and Murray have looked exhausted by the end of games recently, maybe if our role players and MPJ produce we still have a chance.

It sounds like MPJ did really well on defense tonight, and that clutch shot at the end was great, he has to feel good right now. Speaking of which, I kind of think this team has needed his arrogance. All great teams have a lot of arrogance, and MPJ more than makes up for Jokic being so humble.

[NuggetsWY]

I did not care for the start. Our defense seemed confused at times and our offense seemed focused on 3pt shooting and that is not our strength.

Too seldom do the Nuggets win a 3rd quarter, but we not only won the 2nd quarter but also the third. Yay! While we have played some nice 4th quarters when necessary, this was perhaps the most impressive 4th quarter this year.

Malone tried a couple of line-ups he hasn't used before and some were effective and some weren't but I think those change-ups helped confuse LAC (just a little). Overall, he still gets a negative from my perspective because he isn't using Porter enough and he isn't using him effectively (as in, see previous comments in this thread).

This was a good team win. Grant, Harris, Craig, Morris, Plumlee all contributed.

Millsap applied himself physically and his game was solid all the way around. He'd be my choice for MVP in this game.

Porter didn't take many shots, but frankly, he didn't have too many opportunities and he didn't force his shots - nice team game and still hustled on defense and the boards. His presence on the floor forces other teams to be very aware of him and if he ever gets enough PT to learn how, he can overcome that extra attention.

Jokic had a nice stat line, as usual but the Nuggets surely do need him to look to score more - as always, he is looking to pass first but he is our best offensive option. I surely do wish we had more guys moving when Jokic has the ball. That's when his assist level goes up. But that isn't the offense the Nuggets are playing this year.

Murray has had a rough series but that can happen when you face a constant rotation of solid defenders - the nicest thing from my perspective is that he isn't trying to force his offense, at least not too much.

[The Rebel]

Who knew all it would take was Morris pissing off Millsap to get a few minutes of vintage Millsap. This team has won a ton of games with different guys stepping up at different times all season long. Jokic and Murray are the best players on the team, that is clear, but we have to run our system and let whoever is hot be the 3rd guy for the night and suddenly our offense is hard to stop.

ANybody else find it funny to listen to Reggie Miller talk about how you cannot give up 1 possession in the playoffs, while knowing damn well our team took off game 1 and often take quarters off. It will bite us, and I hope the guys grow out of it, but anybody who watches this team on a regular basis knows that game 5 was a lot closer to our normal games than games 1-4. right down to the 4th quarter defense suddenly turning on. We have to play with that energy more and I am not sure there is a team in the playoffs that can beat us.