So…did the Nuggets elevate their play to a level where they should have won Game 1 at home as a Vegas 10.5 dog— or did Shai’s Thunder group choke under the bright lights as they did against Dallas last post season and as they did against the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Cup Finals in December?
You tell me Thunder Nation.
You tell, El Prez.
There’s no way you should lose this game with a 13 point lead with six minutes remaining and 18 Nugget turnovers on the scorecard which led to somewhere around 26 Thunder points or so.
NO WAY.
Just so we’re clear–theThunder on a game by game basis score around 20% of their points off live ball turnovers. So in that regard the Nuggets at best get a D- on their report card. The Nuggets in no way were stellar in this game. Not even close. Their heart was great and admirable, but Coach David Adelman knows they need to be better the rest of this series. Much better.
I would also add the Nuggets played even more short-handed than they did in Game 7 versus the Cippers because Michael Porter Jr. was basically so bad in this game he was unplayable and Coach David Adelman had no choice but to pull him.
MJ also can’t believe anyone in Oklahoma City thought this was going to be a cakewalk 4-0 sweep. Jokic, Jamal, Aaron, C-Braun, and Russell are five dudes who have a great deal of pride at stake and have something to prove as four of these guys were instrumental in the Nuggets’ championship run two years ago and the fifth is a certain Hall of Famer.
Coach Mark, JDub, Chet and to a lesser degree Shai….this is when you guys show us you’re post season contenders and not just regular season posers who get by with this because the sports media press in Oklahoma City honestly isn’t equipped with the type of basketball insiders who should be covering the team like teams are covered in other markets in the league.
So as we stand right now if the Nuggets hold home serve in home games in Denver… they win the series in Game 6 inside of Ball Arena. If the Nuggets somehow pull off another miracle road win at PayCom Arena tomorrow night as a current 11.5 road underdog…I would think this series is over.
Shai said it best last night in his post game presser, “This is when we find out who we really are.”
I would add your best player last night was Alex Caruso and in my view if he can handle 32-34 minutes a game this would be the time.
This would be the time for Coach Mark to go from being the Developmental Coach at the Girl’s U8 Rec Soccer League over there on Danforth Rd. in Edmond and you know, maybe put the foot on the pedal just a wee bit and coach to win. BE RUTHLESS. DENVER DOESN’T HAVE A BENCH. I would assume Sam Presti trading Josh Giddy for Alex Caruso was carried out with the idea in mind to win championship relevant games in post season [play WHEN THE GAMES ACTUALLY MATTER.
In closing out my little mini-rant before I get myself in the proper frame of mind to watch TNT’s Tuesday Night Doubleheader….I would suggest AT&T pull their Thunder add off the air until at the least these guys win the Western Conference and actually do something which merits an add of this nature.
Rant over.
MJ