As a Denver Nugget fan all I can say at this point is…thank the basketball gods this was the night he broke out and showed an indication he can become the Nuggets sixth man next season and fill the hole which has been there ever since the departure of Kentavius-Caldwell Pope to the Orlando Magic.
This was the kind of break-out game Denver had to have from either Julian, Peyton Watson, or Russell Westbrook. Julian’s 15 second half points were clutch with the Nugget season on the line. But it was more than the 15 points…Julian’s defense was stellar and it has been on the defensive side of the ball where it’s taken him time to gain the trust of either Michael Malone or David Adelman.
Even if Denver loses Game 7 in Oklahoma City on Sunday…I would think this game helped clear the path forward with the team’s construction heading into camp in August.
I’m not going to dwell much on Russell Westbrook’s struggles in this game for this reason…Coach Adelman yanked Russell early in his first rotation because it was apparent he wasn’t the guy on this night to give Denver what they had to have from the bench. Kudos to Coach Adelman for sitting Russell Westbrook.
My thought is the leash will be short on Sunday for ither Russell or Julian depending on the play of each.
I would think on Sunday in Game 7 if everyone else is ready to go and Aaron Gordon’s hamstring isn’t an issue Russell would be the 8th man. We’ll see how it goes. How Julian handles a hostile crowd who don’t want to see a Thunder collapse in the city’s biggest NBA Playoff game since the Game 6 meltdown loss to the Warriors in 2016.
I thought both Jokic and Jamal were excellent in this game. Michael Porter was a little better as well hitting a couple of threes. Peyton Watson’s overall energy was good. Christian Braun was a stud with a clutch 23 point performance.
Christian Braun is a winner..period. He won the MVP for the Kansas Jayhawks when they won their last NCAA championship, and then the next season he filled a valuable role on Michael Malone’s NBA championship team. C-Braun is one of those rare players who brings talent, toughness, smarts, and an absolute hatred of losing. MJ loves C-Braun’s game.
So for me the two things I’m looking at on Sunday are;
1 How much C-Braun and Aaron Gordon bring to the arena for this Game 7…, how will they fill the stat sheet,
and, 2 Is Shai’s Batman going to show up with the 3rd AT&T amigo or play invisible as they both did tonight in inside of Ball Arena.
I did not have this series going to a Game 7… so for me this is a bonus game of sorts. Cool. The PGA doesn’t do it for me in this format this soon after the Masters. A Game 7 will be better. Should the PGA even be a major anymore given the LIV landscape? Wish Dan Jenkins was still around to talk that one through.
Big Perk put the Thunder at around a 60% probability of winning. I want to wait and see how Aaron’s hamstring is before I blog on Game Day. If Aaron is good to go I’d have it around 55% Thunder-45% Nuggets. If Aaron doesn’t play I’d have the Thunder at 85% to win and carry the spread. We’ll see.
I’m still stunned at all these Oklahoma media types who thought this would be an easy series for the Thunder. This is a prime example of why I kept my blog. That being…most of these cats in OKC don’t even know the NBA existed before Hurricane Katrina. Minneota is going to be tough as well.
I’m gone fishin’ tomorrow southwest of Alex, Oklahoma with my Joe Carter Sr. fishing pole.
Y’all in Oklahoma…please don’t start the Civil War while I’m down there….your 401s are only down 22% for the year so far. China, China, China.
A song after a Game 6 win is always nice since I can’t drink or have victory cigars anymore according to Dr. Showalter.
Mike J