Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 140. (Read 902220 times)

It's the defense as what others have seen, they have limited Murray in game 2 and you can see his frustration at the end of the game. In the Lakers series, he is also been checked however, in the fourth quarter, he will take over the game. But not in this series, the Wolves know that Murray is the key in their wins against the Lakers, back to back winning shot, and so they locked him up the whole four quarters, unlike the Lakers wherein they will play good defense but can't sustain it.

Yes, they will have to return the favor, but it's going to be very hard as the Wolves now have the momentum going in their homecourt. It could be another close game, but if ANT continue to explode and impress their fans, I doubt that the Nuggets can steal even 1 game.

If that feels like something, let me tell you the story that I have built a 99 overall Lebron in an NBA live game, yes NBA live and not NBA 2k because at the time Live was better and the leader of basketball games, that is what I honestly did because Lebron wasn't even in the game but he was hyped by everyone, so I just put a 99 overall Lebron in the game myself by creating something like that.

I have to say that a lot of the coaches that we have today, not all head coaches but a lot of coaches, like assistants, and some of the even head coaches, are people who I watched playing basketball, imagine that for a second. I mean that alone is something that makes me feel so old, Kidd alone should be weird, I have seen the very first game Kidd played, and now he has been a coach for so long.

I thought that the Nuggets are going to be back in game two and win because it's hard to be 0-2 deficit and go back to the Wolves den, so to speak in the next game. It's their defense that really set the tone, even in game 1 they have put a great effort to handle Murray. ANT is doing both defense and offense in game 2 and no one can stop him not even the Nuggets best defender, Aaron Gordon. It's too early to say, but it looks like the Nuggets are going to be eliminated by Wolves here unless Jokic and Murray play great in the next game as the Wolves homecourt. Yes, the hype of ANT comparison against Jordan is real, he exposed KD in their first round, and now taking over the Nuggets in their series and trying to advance to the Western conference finals.

What we just see tonight!!! What a win and what a destroy made by the Minnesotta Timberwolves against the reign champion Denver NUggets, man tha was majestic play by Minesota, reaching the halftime with a 26 margin diference, super crazy, the worst part for denver is the one where you can see they cant find a way to damage Minesota.

Minnesota's defense plus ANT's offense. Can't argue that the Wolves' overachieving postseason is anchored on this young guy who's really proving he's worth the hype and the MJ comparisons. Though I'm sure that not many though they'd take both games in Denver before going home. Mentally, it should put a lot of pressure to the Nuggets but definitely you can't count a team out especially if they have Jokic there. I've seen game clips where the Wolves are making it hard for Murray to even be in a decent position to score. Adjustments will be made but definitely these two wins will be a big morale boost when they start game 3 at home and a bigger challenge to the Nuggets to bounce back.

What do you think about the Knicks vs Pacers series?  The game 1 was a very entertaining game, the Pacers could have won that game if they were able to hold their lead in the clutch minutes. I feel that the Pacers have a shot at beating the Knicks in the series as they played really well but jut failed to make the right decision in the end.

If we look at the production of the Pacers bench, it's really impressive, so if this series will go longer, it will favor the Pacers since the starters are will not experience fatigue.

As for the series line now, Pacers are x4,  I think that's really attractive.

Jokic has never been swept in the playoffs I guess. But of course, adjustment is necessary but I doubt they'll make the right one now that there's a rumor that Murray might be suspended one game, and if that is game 3 then I guess the Nuggets will struggle due to lack of offense. We all know that the Nuggets are about Murray + Jokic, both should play together so the team will play better, so it's important to know if Murray will play before we place our bets.

Yeah right, Wolves is composed of a well balance squad, everyone knows their responsibilities and they are inside the court to perform whatever the task that coach gives them, Jokic and Murray ain't getting any confidence from this two last games, they are outperform by the wolves on both defense and offensive stats.

Still not done yet, Wolves needs two more games to win before concluding the series, and they are competing against the defending champ who who can comeback and snatch this series from them.

Let see if what adjustments both team will comes up this upcoming game 3, good luck to those who already place their picks either per game or per series.

This is not over yet, if the series would be 3-0, then I think we can talk that the Nuggets are not the same team anymore. Actually, this two teams met in the regular season and it was a competitive game, this game especially in game 2, the Nuggets seemed to loss their composure, and even the coach are questioning the judgement of the officials.

If the Wolves will win, it's still far for them to win the Finals since they'll have to face another great team, most likely the Dallas in the WCF and the Celtics in the NBA finals, that if they can beat the Dallas.

Yeah, the Timberwolves is a buffed version of the Nuggets. When most of us have thought that Jokic is unstoppable, it's a great wall of defense coming from them. I know that the mastermind of this is their head coach - Chris Finch. While he's got the most defensive player of the year. It's no doubt that the built of the team through a balanced team members with scorers and defenders. 2-0 already and note that Gobert wasn't there on the 2nd game.

The outcome of the second game shows that there is a good chance that this series may end 4-0 or 4-1 in favor of the Wolves. Look at Murray's shooting percentage in the second game, he scored only 3 of 18 shots, which indicates that the Wolves defended well against him. If this continues in the upcoming games, it's obvious that Jokic alone can't handle the Wolves.

Imagine Wolves manage to limit Nuggets offense and defense also leave them unease with current situation they are facing. Imagine what will happen if Gobert is there this is totally demolition for Nuggets since they can't answer back on what Wolves showing to them.

Nuggets at game 2 is bit dismantled and their opponent is really doing so well so they need to find solution on their errors since its really disappointing if they will be sweep this season. Murray and Porter should score a lot their contribution is needed since Nuggets need fire power in perimeter or in 3 pt area.

They're like a pack of wolves when it comes to their defense and the Nuggets have no other way to counter it, they cannot do anything with their outside shots because anywhere they go, they are likely followed by 2 players and quickly react with steals and blocks, that's why they even held them below a hundred points which you rarely see because they are the Nuggets which was known to score a lot easier. If they going to lose the same way at game 3, then they can say goodbye after it because there's no way to beat such kind of team when they are synchronizing well both in their defense and offense.

Damn it! The Timberwolves are really that strong. Antman is a monster. Imagine winning 2 road games against the reigning champion without Rudy Gobert. Wow! I am a Nikola Jokic fan but damn this is something else.

Is the level really that far?
What does the Nuggets lack that suddenly they cannot even win against the Timberwolves?

Defense! A very wide difference in how the Timberwolves are suffocating the Nuggets players. Jokic was frustrated, Murray too, and it became contagious.
Coach Malone must find a way how to stop the Antman and don't put Jokic on KAT too because that leaves KAT an opening to shoot a three or attack the paint, he is way faster than the Joker.
Fill the gaps, fix the mismatches, and use it as an advantage instead of a weakness. Now the Nuggets need to steal the two games on Timberwolves home but I doubt they can win both.

The chances for then to get swept is also huge. I mean the next 2 games will be held at Minnesota. Though, homecourt advantages only has small impact to the game, but base on the outcome from their last 2 games, the Nuggets are really in big trouble.
The Wolves completely shut down Jamal Murray. They can't completely contain Jokic, but he sure get a heck of game to make, with Murray being disabled.
Look at how frustrated they were, the game was not even at the half. Lucky, they were not called technicals in several occasions since game 1.
If the Nuggets won't be able to make adjustments in game 3, this is most likely going to be a swept.
Also, Gobert was not even playing yet. The Wolves' size are suffocating the Nuggets on the defensive end.

I hope they'll keep their composure, this series is far from over, though statistically, their chance of coming back is slim but nothing is impossible here, they just have to take it one step at a time, win game 3 then worry the game 4. I believe they will not go down 0-4, they should still win a game on the road or maybe two to even the series.

Wow, that's a pretty low score for Jokic and Murray, not the usual Nuggets I know. The Nuggets have more rebounds, but the Timberwolves have more assists, with 28 compared to 16 by the Nuggets. The Timberwolves also have more blocks and assists, and they outscored the Nuggets in points in the paint. The Nuggets are down by 2, and they will go to the Timberwolves' home. They are in a tough situation. I didn't see it coming; this might be a sweep, and a second one for the Timberwolves.

The suffocating defense of the Timberwolves lead them to win "AGAIN" on the road and now up 2-0 against the Denver Nuggets. Add their distributed offense as well.

Their defense against the scorers of the Nuggets is just amazing that even Murray is having a hard time scoring. He's even pissed on how they are defending him, and that caused him to be out of the rhythm the whole game scoring only 8 points.

The Timberwolves also made history as they are the 4th team in NBA history to win 2 consecutive road games against a defending champion. TBH, with how they defeated the Nuggets in Game 2, I'm already thinking that they might be the one that will win it all in the West. I mean they're still undefeated, and if you watched the whole game, you would see how hard it is for the Nuggets to score. Also take note that Gobert is out on this game due to personal matters, but it doesn't matter as they still won by a huge margin.

"Defense wins championships". I remembered the 2022 Celtics with them. They're also one of the best defensive teams in the league but fell short to the Warriors in the NBA Finals. I'm afraid the Nuggets might get swept on this series just because of how they played on their home.

P.S. I also looked at Stake on which team is the favorites to win in the West and to my surprise, the Wolves have now the lowest odds after this game 2 loss of the Nuggets.

Time flies so fast. I remember the series because me and my friends had a bet on Orlando. I was in college at that time and I have a project with my group mates where the males are just watching the NBA games while the females are the ones doing the research and everything.

Anyways, Cavs were right taking Mitchell. First year of the contract and they were already back in the playoffs. This is the Cavs second season with Spida and here they are heading in the second round playoffs. I still think Boston is too much for them though.

Still leading double digits with almost 3 minutes left in the final period, Wolves really dominating the defending champ on both defense and offense not sure what happened with the core squad of Denver they can't break the tight defense and they are allowing Wolves to penetrate, ANT and KAT are really bringing everything here, plus the role players who also helping whatever help they can provide, that's the beauty of this new core squad of Wolves they are all working together and they are seeing the fruit of their hardwork.