The Nuggets are in a tough spot right now down 0-2 with the next games being in Minnesota after being thoroughly outplayed in game 2 losing 106-80 outputting their lowest points in a game all season. Coming into the series, I knew that this would be a tough series because Minnesota had the best defense in the league and they played us tough in the regular season but I never saw this coming. The Denver offense has never looked more out of sync and that's a credit to the T-Wolves Defense. Ant, Alexander-Walker, and Jaden McDaniels have taken Jamal Murray completely out of this series. Murray came off a game where he was 3-18 for 8 points. He has been completely shut down. Jokic, given his lofty standards and now that he is a 3x MVP, has not looked good either. He was 16 8 16 in game 2 which isn't bad but he was 5-13 from the field. My biggest gripe with him was how he played defensively. He looked very lethargic and didn't even attempt to challenge shots at the rim. Defensive rim protection is not his forte, but he is going to have to make some plays defensively if Denver has any shot of coming back in this series.
Denver is lucky that Jamal Murray was not suspended after throwing a heating pad on the court which caused KAT to slip before he threw a heating pad, he threw a towel that landed right behind the ref. It was odd to see him with this kind of behavior because he is usually one of the more even-keeled players in the league and has always been. good citizen, so I'm not sure what made him do this. I know it has been a frustrating series for him but he needs to do better keeping his emotions in check and not putting the team at a disadvantage. Now back to basketball. How can Denver get back in the series?
If I am being honest, it doesn't feel like a schematic issue, it just comes down to the Wolves wanting it more. Denver is going to have to play better defense for longer periods. It cannot just come and go they must stay consistent. A good example was in the first half of game 1. After going down 18-4, Denver played tenacious defense challenging Minnesota getting up on the players and not giving them space, and ended up finishing the half on a 40-22 run as they led 40-44 at half. But everything changed in the second half as Minnesota hit its first 11 of 12 shots and the issue was that everyone started making shots. KAT, Naz Reid, and Conley, all made contributions in the second half which ultimately was the difference. Minnesota is dangerous when they are well-balanced. In the first half of game 1, Anthony Edwards had 25 points but the Wolves were down 4 at half because no one else was able to make shots. I think that is the key moving forward for Denver. We know that Ant is great but Denver should not overreact if he makes a few shots early and starts doubling him because he's a good enough playmaker to get others involved and once the others start hitting shots it's going to be a long day. The first half of game 1 is going to have to be the blueprint for the rest of the series for Denver. Play Ant straight up and contain the role players. A simple defensive adjustment that could also be done is to give Deandre Jordan some minutes and see if he can make a difference with his energy.
Offensively, I think the key for Denver is that Jokic has to be aggressive and get the bigs in foul trouble. Minnesota has a plethora of big men that can hang with Jokic in Gobert, KAT, and Naz Reid. He is going to have to start asserting himself early in games and force the T-Wolves to start doubling in the low block and hopefully, that opens up open shots for MPJ, Murray, and especially KCP because he has struggled mightily this series. Minnesota is one of few teams, maybe the only team, that has players that can play Joker 1 on 1 which allows the rest of their defense to stay home and that has given Denver trouble.
Finally, Denver must get off to a fast start. It is for sure going to be an electric atmosphere in Minnesota and they know that the Wolves are going to do whatever it takes to knock them out in 4. They need to get the crowd out of it early and just play ball and see what happens.
It's not looking pretty but I don't expect the defending Champs to go down without a fight. Let's see how game 3 plays out!
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