Game 2 : Los Angeles Clippers (1-0) @ Denver Nuggets (0-1) - 10:30 PM

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[FilNugsFan]

We need Murray to bounce back to give ourselves a chance in this game. Clippers are expected to be extra motivated for obvious reasons. MPJ said that he wants to guard the other team's best player and vice versa, so this should be his first acid test against Kawhi. Hope he delivers.

[Mickey8]

Also you need the refs to call the game as is, I smell blow out by the Clippers, I hope I am wrong.

[Richard Miller]

Is Murray even going to play? Anyway, good luck tonight, the time is way too late to stay up.

[THE J0KER]

Relax guys, statistically speaking we already won this game, because the last time Nuggets lose two opening games of the season when both are played in Denver was back in 1980



So, the Clippers needs something like a "Christmas miracle" to win this

Oh, wait...

[THE J0KER]

With or without Murray our chances to beat good opponent who scoring 70+ points per half are close to zero

[MarxyLebronist]

Needs more Harden.

[Timmyyy]

Somehow we looked nearly the same compared to the SAC game. A few guys carrying, the rest did nothing. What the heck is going on with our team rebounding? That was a total mess the first two games.

- Murrays stat line looks nice. But he again had a really bad game. Invisible and bad in the first 3 quarters. And after we were down 24 points he started ballin in the fourth when there was kinda nothing to lose because we were expected to lose that game at that point. Can't give him credit for playing good when it nearly didn't matter anymore. When it mattered in the first 3 quarters he again wasn't there. Still, good for the future that he got into a flow!
- MPJ was solid again on offense, just didn't get a lot of PT because the 4-guard-lineup kinda had a run in the early 4th quarter. On defense it was quite the opposite to last game, where he had great defensive flashes but made a lot of stupid mistakes. This time he had less flashy defensive plays but therefore looked better with the fundamentals. In the 1st quarter he guarded Kawhi a lot and Kawhi didn't do a lot in that quarter. Not that MPJ locked him up, but he did a good job denying drives to the basket and bothered his post ups with his length so Kawhi passed the ball a lot in those situations. So, not bad!
- Morris looked way better this game!
- Barton not really good, not really bad. But again an instance where he seemed to be beefing again, this time with Malone after an inbounds. Man doesn't seem to be happy. I think at some point he will become a problem.
- Bol got playing time. But nothing to talk about. Didn't get involved in anything.
- Hartenstein looked good. I think last game he didn't look good because of the bad guard play. He will do good things in the few minutes a game he gets.

The offense right now is heavily limited because of our bad guard play. At the moment the ball is mostly moving between the 2 perimeter ball handlers and Jokic, because our guards aren't able to create more openings for the team. Murray never seems to get leverage after DHO or PNR to collapse the D the last two games (and Barton usually drives into a wall of defenders when he gets leverage ). We need to get to the point, where we get more ball movement between all 5 guys, such that everyone gets involved and the opposing defense has to work more.
It's only been two games, but there is a lot of work to do!

[NuggetsWY]

Needs more Harden.

Inappropriate baiting - don't do it again please

[NuggetsWY]

No comment on our defense - because we didn't have much.

If Murray is to be a star, he needs to expect to be defended like a star - and he must still score. Good stat line doesn't count much when it doesn't start until your team is down by 20 points.

Jokic tried to carry the team. But it is beginning to look like he needs to take 30+ shots per game; and that's not his style.

Millsap, Porter, Harris all played less than 24 minutes. Not sure they deserved more, but the bench didn't seem to help much either.

[Captain Ballmer]

Everygame we played in the last 2 years Jokic hunted us like rabbits. I don't even bother to care anymore. His impact to games much more than Kawhi's.. easily. Is there any guy in the league slow him down a bit? we should go get him.

By the way I found you losing Jerami and Torrey made you more weak and vulnerable on D than I expected. The duo was intimidating.

[THE J0KER]

GOOD THINGS:
- Jokic proved MVP shape
- Murray shows some flashes of the bubble-Murray in the middle of the 4th quarter
- vs Sacramento Millsap vas good, yesterday it was Morris

BAD THINGS:
- Everything else

Together with the Nuggets' no-defense in the 1st half which decides the winner, I'm especially frustrated with the way how Porter was used. He was clearly our 2nd best player vs Kings, but still, the only one that Malone mocking in a post-game interview. Murray is not physically and mentally ready for the start of the new season which is maybe not that surprising after all efforts he puts in the playoff and work focussed on the defense during the offseason. All that can be changed in the next just two weeks, so we should be patient about Murray and nothing else. But MPJ seems to be ready, and he scored 7 out of Nuggets' first 12 points and 3 out of Nuggets' first 5 points in the 2nd half, and... and literally nothing else!?

Clippers are maybe not better than last season but unfortunately their current roster much worse suits to Nuggets because of:
- We don't have Grant anymore who was very useful in defense vs Kawhi and George
- Two-way Batum proved everything I talked about him when wanted to see him in Denver this season, and he is now a full-time starter on the contender team
- Jokic toyed with Harrell but 3-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member Ibaka was obviously much bigger challenge

Losing vs underdog Sacramento is disgusting, but losing vs TOP5 contender Clippers not so much. But we still have many reasons to worry after this loss because it was not a competitive 50-50 game as everyone expected but Denver flirted with a blowout loss after -17 on halftime.

[Mickey8]

This team is playing like a trash and this is the coaching signature , even in the bubble they have played many bad quarters like this game , no defense, bad offense etc. I think Malone is on the hot seat . Also , I think everybody should be on trade block except Jokic , and even Jokic should be punched in the face every time he pump fake the open three point shot.

[NuggetsWY]

This team is playing like a trash and this is the coaching signature , even in the bubble they have played many bad quarters like this game , no defense, bad offense etc. I think Malone is on the hot seat . Also , I think everybody should be on trade block except Jokic , and even Jokic should be punched in the face every time he pump fake the open three point shot.

I'll wait

[The Rebel]

Everygame we played in the last 2 years Jokic hunted us like rabbits. I don't even bother to care anymore. His impact to games much more than Kawhi's.. easily. Is there any guy in the league slow him down a bit? we should go get him.

By the way I found you losing Jerami and Torrey made you more weak and vulnerable on D than I expected. The duo was intimidating.

LMAO, the problem is not Torrey Craig, not in the least bit, Dozier is a better defender than he was. Our issue is much bigger and much more of a problem than those 2.

[The Rebel]

While many are going to point to our guards, especially Murray and Harris, I think we have a huge problem in our hands that nobody is talking about. 1st let me say that we all know that Murray starts slowly every season, while we all wish he would not do it, he has done the same thing every year, so I am not concerned about it. Harris is what he is at this point, we don't really have a starting SG to replace him with and nobody is begging for that contract, so as long as his defense is okay we have to roll with him.

The biggest issue to me is at PF, Millsap is getting destroyed on the boards, he is struggling to guard guys, and he has nothing left on offense. He is completely washed and it is obvious when you watch him. Bol is also terrible, I am sorry I know a lot of you guys love him, but he has a long way to go before he is a positive player in this league. Green getting healthy may help, but right now I see that as our worst weakness.

We had 11 rebounds in the 1st half and Jokic had 9 of them, that is a problem. Everybody seems more concerned with cherry picking for the easy layup than they do in actually getting the ball. That is a coaching problem.

Barton is back to being on the court all the time and doing whatever the hell he wants while half assing it on defense. I haven't looked at the stat sheet much, but MPJ was doing a great job on Kawhi in the 1st half, was scoring well, was looking good, than no minutes in the 4th quarter?


Literally the only guys I am happy with after 2 games are MPJ, Jokic, Hartenstein, and Dozier. The rest need to pull their heads out of their asses, and that includes Malone.

[The Rebel]

This team is playing like a trash and this is the coaching signature , even in the bubble they have played many bad quarters like this game , no defense, bad offense etc. I think Malone is on the hot seat . Also , I think everybody should be on trade block except Jokic , and even Jokic should be punched in the face every time he pump fake the open three point shot.

Malone just had the 2nd youngest team in NBA history in the western conference finals, he is not on the hot seat after 2 losses.

[Mickey8]

That's not the excuse and he should be on the hot seat , Western Conference finalist shouldn't play like the team full of drunken bums , losing to bad Sacramento team at home , playing zero perimeter defense , bad rotations , line ups etc. Not being creative on the offense etc. he's doing lousy job.

[skywalker33]

That's not the excuse and he should be on the hot seat , Western Conference finalist shouldn't play like the team full of drunken bums , losing to bad Sacramento team at home , playing zero perimeter defense , bad rotations , line ups etc. Not being creative on the offense etc. he's doing lousy job.

And there's no excuse for your over-reaction after TWO games. Either your an eternal PESSIMIST or just looking to get a rise out of someone. We lost a buzzer-beater and to a top five team...deal with it. JEEZZ

[Mickey8]

Its not just about losing the games, its how the team have played in those game , some things that weren't corrected from the last season are still there . Stagnant offense , not able to stop anyone on the perimeter , why to double George or Leonard all the time and have the open people behind the three point line , if you are not committed to recover and contest the shots at least try to play man to man defense, and if they score two points on you live with that , better two than three points .