The nerds react to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets destroying Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 of their first-round series.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume. No, no, oh my god, how could he
do that? What Charles Darwin?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The nerves is where it's at.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sesh. As always, I'm carcon
Breber and alongside me is Logan Camden, and you already
know the drill. We've got one Game seven to talk
about today, and it was the Denver Nuggets Logan, absolutely
throttling the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, you picked this series
to be Denver and seven, so you nailed that. I
(00:45):
thought that we were going to be in for quite
a Game seven battle and it was just the opposite.
After the first quarter, this was the Nuggets show and
they obliterated the Clippers. How did they get this done? Logan?
And how impressed are you by the level that Denver
was able to find to close out this series.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I was really impressed with Denver in this game. And
the thing that makes it really unique is that I
felt like it wasn't a dominant Nicola Jokic game. You know,
I thought the I thought that was going to be
the prerequisite for the Nuggets coming away with this one,
and I felt like it was powered by the role players. Honestly,
I thought the biggest difference in this game was the
fact that Denver's role players outplayed the Clippers, basically everybody.
(01:28):
It starts with the really impressive Denver defense. I thought
it was all hands on deck. Christian Brown, Westbrook, Aaron Gordon, Jokic, Like,
I thought everybody was really contributing on that end, and
everybody chipped in offensively too. Dude. You get a good
start from Westbrook, you get Brown making some big shots,
(01:48):
the collective nuggets, they outshoot the Clippers. I don't know
what it ends up being in garbage time. You know,
they were plus twelve from behind the arc and like
that I thought was a huge difference, and they just
go on huge runs to crush the Clippers in this game.
They dominate the second quarter thirty seven to twenty one.
They start on the seventeen to three run to open
(02:09):
the third quarter, and they end that one thirty five nineteen.
It was really strange, man, I don't know. I thought
they really convincingly won the hustle and effort categories. They
won the battle on the glass and making extra opportunities,
and it's just strange. Man. Jokic didn't play like his
best game. I thought he was off early with his jumper.
(02:31):
I thought he had some really reckless turnovers. I thought
the Denver collective was way better and it was powered
by this defense. Man. The role players really showed up
in this one. I don't know, man, I was wondering
if like they had a home like a home court advantage,
like in a massive way too, just because you know
they're playing up in that Denver air man. But the
role players really outplayed La in this one. Man. I
(02:53):
thought that was the big difference.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I think definitely the most significant thing to come out
of this series for Denver is that they have absolutely
found their defensive identity again. That is what wins them
this game. It all starts on the defensive end. As
you mentioned, Jokic is certainly not giving you his best
offensive stuff in this one, but he is giving you
one of his better defensive performance. He has three steals
(03:16):
in a block in the first half. They were so engaged,
they were so connected on that side of the floor.
The zone really gave the Clippers trouble. Christian Brown was
phenomenal on James Harden, not just pressuring the ball up
at the level out of pick and roll, which Jokic
was also involved in but also just like being physical
with Harden, couldn't get a step on him in this one,
(03:37):
was forcing him to settle for some really tough step
back threes when he put up a shot at all.
Aaron Gordon I thought was excellent defensively, MPJ Jamalmury, all
of these guys were at the very least engaged, and
that is so huge to see from this team, because
even in Game one, like you saw them start to
set the tone on that side of the floor, where
(03:59):
after the first quarter in Game one, that team was
defending at like a really serious level that they hadn't
defended at basically for an eighty two game stretch. That
was easily their biggest problem this entire year, just their
issues defensively. Because you can talk about the depth and
that's a problem, and you can talk about concerns that
people have had with some of the spot up shooters,
(04:21):
the lack of three point volume. I understand that. I
always thought that was overstated, But the thing that was
keeping them from being an elite regular season team was
the fact that they were twentieth in defensive rating. And
I feel very silly because for ninety percent of the
year Logan. I was the one banging the drums saying,
once this Denver team just actually locks in and plays
(04:42):
up to their potential defensively, and we know that they
have the ability to be solid on that end. Their
offense is top two in basketball, and like they're going
to be a top two to three team in the West.
I said that for so much of the year, and
then that stretch at the end of the year really
really scared me. Man, those last couple weeks of the
regular season, thing got bad. And that makes this all
(05:02):
the more impressive. That you reach a low point where
you feel like your culture is in a bad place,
your defensive identity has been lost. You fire Mike Malone
after a decade and bringing you a championship. You clean
house entirely, obviously with Calvin Booth two, and you are
able to turn it around after three games of regular
season basketball to tune up, and you are able to
(05:24):
get serious in the biggest moments. And that's what ends
up winning you a game seven in the playoffs against
a really good team who did not play well today.
But you do that when your best player is off.
I just think that they have found the identity and
the fight and the competitiveness that helped make them a
championship team. They are playing like former champs again, and
(05:47):
that's huge to see because for so much of the
regular season they just couldn't consistently find that level. They
did it when they needed it most in this one.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, they really did. And I'm just surprised. Man. I
really thought this was gonna be a battle, and it
felt the momentum was way out of the Clippers' hands
coming out of the second half, like they didn't have
the juice. This game was over midway through the third quarter.
And I'm not gonna pile too much on the Clippers.
(06:16):
I'm gonna be honest with y'all. Right now, people are
probably people are expecting me to go off all hard,
and I thought Harden had a really good year, and
I think people are about to be really nasty towards
the guy this like right now, because he was down.
I'm not surprised at all, like by this by James Harden.
I know that he has his really high highs and
(06:36):
he has his really low lows, and I just think
that it just kind of balances itself out. But in
the big moments, I'm not banking on the guy, and
it was really uncharacteristic of him, like just to not
have as many field goal attempts and to be as aggressive.
I got to give credit to the Nuggets for how
they played him, to him and Kawhi both and just
the defense overall. You know, the Nuggets I thought brought
(06:57):
an end to end in this game against the Clippers,
but I'm not gonna pile on I thought the Clippers
were a really good basketball team, and whoever was coming
out of this series, I was gonna feel pretty good
for them putting up a fight, you know, coming into
this next round. But I bet on the Nuggets because
I believed in Jokic and I didn't believe in the Clippers,
(07:18):
And ultimately, I do think my lack of faith in
James Harden does kind of prove point here. But I'm
not gonna I thought James Harden had a really good
year for how old he is, and I think people
are just gonna take this way too negative because that's
the easy thing to do. But to be doing what
Harden is doing at his age is still really impressive,
and I don't want to pile on. Man, the Clippers
had a really good season, and they're a really good
(07:39):
basketball team. I don't think the fact that they got
bounced in Game seven changes any of that.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
For me, it's incredibly noble logan. I mean, it's a
great display of mercy, and I applaud you for it.
I thought that you were going to be dancing on
James Harden grave because after this game, man, you would
be justified in doing so. Like, did James Harden have
a really good season? Absolutely, he kept the Clippers afloat
when Kawhi was out, and then he caught fire as
(08:04):
a score in the last thirty games of the season,
he was averaging twenty five a game on good efficiency.
But that puts even more expectation on him to actually
be great in a game like this, and instead he
was horrifically bad. And we know the trend with James Harden.
We know that he has been a historic playoff dropper
(08:24):
throughout his prime due to some of his lack of
offensive versatility, not getting the same calls in the playoffs,
being extremely reliant on the step back three, which gets
a little bit predictable over the course of a playoff series,
and also he just didn't shoot the three at the
necessary level in the playoffs to remain the level of
score he was in the regular season, and then we
saw the dropping with the sixers, where he just wasn't
(08:46):
nearly the same threat scoring at the rim, and that
led to a lot more volatility in his game. So
those trends have been there, but to see it again
at this level in a game seven is just still
so disappointed to me. Like, yeah, he's thirty five, so
it's crazy that he had as good of a season
as he did, but this was so bad, dude. James
(09:07):
Harden has now played in seven game sevens in his
career logan, he's averaged nineteen point two points per game
seven point nine assists per game. He has shot thirty
five point five percent from the field and twenty three
percent from deep. And I was the guy who after
last game was saying, hey, let's give the guy some grace.
He's allowed to have one stinker like he did in
Game five, and then he bounces back with a really
(09:29):
nice showing in game six. But you certainly don't get
to have two of them in a three game span
when you've been your team's best offensive player. This year,
he was able to have some impact as a facilitator
racking up assists when they were putting two on the
ball out of pick and roll. But I have said
coming into the series and all series like he should
be great as an isolation scorer. In this matchup and
(09:50):
in this game, he was just smothered. Like Christian Brown
convincingly won that battle. Even Jamal Murray off a couple switches,
held up really really well to physic which has given
him trouble in the playoffs over the years, gave him
a lot of trouble again in this one. And there
were several possessions where he just ate up so much
clock and was killing the pace of the Clippers offense,
(10:12):
and then they get to like desperation mode at the
end of the shot clock when that's just not necessary.
So I tried to defend the guy this year. Logan, like, historically,
I don't think you and I are crazy far apart
on Harden. You are a big time hardened pessimist, But
I am on the side of being lower on Harden
maybe than the consensus, like nerdy NBA fan at least,
(10:32):
but I'm not inclined to try defending him again because
I thought this was the best basketball that he played
in years coming into the playoffs, and he played at
an absolutely atrocious, inexcusable level when his team needed him.
Mostly I said coming into the game, he.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Was the X factors.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I'm disappointed, man, I'm disappointed because when you play like
a star, when you play at an all NBA level
for thirty games of the year, you should not be
expected to fall apart like this in Game seven. And
I'm the fool for thinking that he could play a
good basketball game, I think at most. But it's so
disappointing still.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Throughout this series. I don't think Harden was the only
disappointing aspect for the Clippers. I think their collective shooting
was really disappointing. I think Norman Powell could have been
a little better. I thought Bogdanovich could have been a
lot better. I think Harden deserves the blame that he's
gonna get, but I don't think he was like the
only disappointing aspect for them. Chris Dunn I thought was
a disaster at points in this game. I mean just
(11:28):
smoking wide open stuff, plays that you have to convert
in a Game seven, and they didn't bring it tonight.
I mean, ultimately, I think it does come through. I
didn't believe in Kawhi delivered, and Kawhi didn't have a
good game to night. I thought he was just a
little bit off, but I mean it was still to
his standard, to his standard. Yeah, Kawhi was their best
player for the Clippers, but like to you know, the
(11:50):
Kawhi like terminator. Kawhi wasn't out there tonight. But this
is what I expected from Harden. Man, I'm telling you,
he gives and he takes, and he gives and he takes.
But in the biggest moments, I just I don't bet
on the guy. And so also Man, the Clippers. It's crazy, man,
Clippers just got this stank on them. Man, it got
(12:10):
this dark cloud. It follows them everywhere, and I don't
know what it's gonna take to get out from under it. Man.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Harden was awful, absolutely horrible. But as you said, like
Chris Dunn, Derek Jones Junior, their inability both of them
to knock down and open three off the catch, just
to be offensive threats in this game, especially done because
Derek Jones Junior was at least able to do some
stuff around the rim off the roll on the offensive
glass but both of them really hurt this offense with
(12:40):
their lack of shooting, and I thought that was costly
against the zone, and the Clippers entire offense was very tentative.
They were very unsure of how to attack the zone.
So I got to put my hand up. I put
too much faith in James Harden. He taught me this lesson.
It's not a lesson that I've had to learn many times,
because normally I've been on the side of not being
super high on James Harden in the playoff environment. But
(13:03):
I thought he could certainly give you more than this
in this one. I do think it's disappointing for the Clippers.
I also think this says more about Denver, though, because
when they can defend at this level and when they
get these sort of role player contributions, they are just
a fantastic basketball team. That was another difference in this one.
We talk about Chris Donn and Derek Jones Junior being
(13:24):
incapable to make those outside shots for the Nuggets more
questionable shooters. It was the exact opposite. Christian Brown shoots
the hell out of the ball and it's just phenomenal.
In this one, Russell Westbrook shoots the hell out of
the ball and is phenomenal. Peyton Watson makes a three
against a closeout and gives you some really good minutes,
Like all of those offensive question marks for the Clippers
were terrible and for the Nuggets they were really, really good.
(13:47):
And I want to give props to Denver's role players
for what they did in totality in this game, and
to Russell Westbrook for what he did in this entire series. Man,
this was such a good rust year in the regular season,
and then there were a few matchups in a playoff
type environment where you felt like his lack of shooting
was being exposed and the decision making wasn't what you wanted,
(14:09):
and you question how much can he really play in
these big playoff series? Man? Was he great in four
out of six games that he played in this series.
He was only bad in one of them because even
like Game one, his shot isn't falling, but he closes
that game. He makes so many huge effort plays. I
thought his defense was phenomenal flying around in the zone.
(14:32):
In this one, he intercepts a pass that leads to
a transition opportunity. Just like being a great playmaker and
athlete on that end of the floor. He's attacking the
offensive glass. This guy had so many offensive rebounds in
this series, and he's making shots like he's knocking down
the open threes, and he's bringing you his playmaking values.
(14:53):
So that was just really awesome to see from Russ.
For Clippers fans, it probably wanted to make them take
their own lives, just considering the fact that he shot
what twenty percent from the field in the playoffs for
them last year. But I was really really happy to
see his regular season value translate and just see how
transformative his energy was in a number of these games,
(15:16):
and when he's making shots, he's just a really, really
good basketball player. Christian Brown another guy who, when he's
knocking down his outside shots, is going to be impactful
in multiple ways. I thought he was the other key
energy guy for this team. He's attacking the offensive class.
His defense on James Harden in Game seven and in
the back half of this series was just quite good overall,
(15:37):
but especially in this one. I mean, he just put
the clamps on him and then he's always gonna cut,
he's always gonna run the floor hard and transition, he
made some nice reads in this game, those guys were
phenomenal and the most consistently great contributor for the Nuggets.
In terms of a quote unquote role player, this guy's
probably too good to even be classified as that. But
(15:57):
Aaron Gordon in this series Man gives you nineteen six
and two on sixty one percent true shooting, was so
consistently impactful, great on the offensive glass, great as a cutter,
great attacking mismatches, had so many effective successful post ups.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Ranks. Where do you think he ranks among like top
X players you'd want on your team?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Brouh, He's got to be right around fifty. I don't know.
He's so impactful. The gap between him and Jamal Murray
is not big for me.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I think that's right. I mean, just consistently, like baseline wise,
because I do want it. Jamal was on and hit
some crazy shot, hit some crazy shots in this game too,
like it was a collective effort from everybody. But I
don't think there's a huge gap between Jamal and AG.
I don't think it's ridiculous to say that.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I mean, dude, with the jump that he has taken
as a jump shooter this year, where he shoots forty
four percent from three in the regular season, but also
the mid range, Like you just see him coming around
some screens right getting to the mid range. He's just
able to keep the defense honest with his jump shot
at an entirely different level than he's ever been able
(17:02):
to before. And then you get the rebounding and the
defensive versatility and the mismatch attacking and the transition stuff.
He's just awesome and he was fantastic. So everybody did
what they needed to do on both sides of the
floor for Denver to not just win a totally unremarkable
Yokic game, but to dominate it. And I do want
to give credit to MPG for stepping up and making shots.
(17:24):
Even with an injury. Jamal Murray ends up having a
really good series. Man like Game four he was bad.
Outside of that, you have a lot of really good
Jamal performances, and even like at the start of the
second quarter in this game, they go on a seven
to zero run with Yokic off the floor. I just
thought that was so telling about the performances that you
(17:46):
were getting from some of those supporting players. Their intensity
was there, their production was there. It is really, really
ugly for the Clippers to just get crushed like this
when Jokic isn't at his best in a Game seven
like that shouldn't happen. But the Nuggets deserve a lot
of credit for everybody around him doing the right things.
And again, Yoki's doing the right things defensively, being actually
(18:10):
really active up at the level. His hands are so phenomenal.
He had sixteen steals in the series. He has a
big block on Zoo, He's at least being big around
the rim, and he's not doing the thing that sometimes
he does in the regular season where he'll literally just
like back off of contests at the rim because he
doesn't want to get a foul, and he's not getting
exert as much energy. Like he's obviously still not a
good rim protector, but he was playing very competitive, solid defense,
(18:34):
and I think he just continues to show that when
you get him in the playoffs, he's totally capable of
doing that high leverage moments. He is always going to
be able to rise to that solid level defensively, and
he did it, and that was a big part of
Denver turning things around on that side of the ball
in this series. But I thought everybody was better than
they were in the regular season, like literally, down to
a man, that's the difference maker for this team. That's
(18:54):
how they win this series.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Yeah, and I think it's really encouraging that they can
for the level that they can reach in the in
the next series and upcoming. Like, like you said, man,
that was the biggest question about the Nuggets and why
I had started to lose faith in them. It's hard
to it's a long season, man, but when the team
shows you that in the back half of the season, Like,
I don't blame people for bailing on the Nuggets. I
was super low on them, even though you know I
(19:18):
had them winning this series. But again, that was more
like this was based a lot of my hatred and
the Clippers, I mean, like and my faith in Jokic.
Like I was also betting on the best player in
the world to come through, and Jokic did certainly deliver.
But it's really encouraging to were able to reach I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Mean, did he buy Jokic standards. I think this is
the worst playoff series he has played.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Me still, I think. Don't get me wrong, I don't
think this was a great Jokic series, but he did
enough and like.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, he's obviously still by far the best player on
the floor in this series. I'm just saying, yeah, he
struggled more offensively than he has in a long time
in the player.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
He's still take him for granted, is all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Well, you're preaching the choir on that one. I would
never take him for granted, but.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
A really good job on him in this series.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Did the best job anybody on the planet could have.
He is the best jocic devender. I think he just
stamped that in this series. That's why it's so big
for these other nuggets to step up and still get
things done. On the flip side, I do feel for
Kawhi Man because he wasn't his best in this game,
but he was still pretty good, and he was quite
good overall in this series. Now, Kawhi talks definitely got
(20:25):
out of hand, Like we had the super chat after
a game two, is he the best player in the world?
Should he be? In best in the world talks, Like
it was kind of funny seeing everybody flip and do
a full one to eighty from like not believing in
Kawhi at all, not really acknowledging him because he hasn't
been consistently healthy to then the viral tweet the next
day was if he had been healthy, he's in conversations
(20:45):
with Jordan and Lebron. Like Kawhi does have his limitations,
doesn't get to the rim, doesn't get to the line
at the same rate, isn't a reliably good playmaker, although
he definitely improved in this series as a playmaker. Things
went along. I thought God a lot better making some
of those skip passes against doubles and whatnot. But like,
this is not Kawhi of a few years ago. That's
(21:06):
why even after his Game two explosion, I said, like
I only feel comfortable putting him in top twelve talks,
But he played like that top twelve player in this series.
Like he played really good basketball. Overall, Harden falls apart.
Nobody around him can make a shot from the outside.
So with all that in mind, Logan, what is next
for the Clippers? Where do they go from here?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Man? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
They've got one more year of both Kawhi and Harden
on the books. They have more years after that of Kawhi,
but this is going to be the final year of hardness.
Contractor I guess he has a player.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Option because of the Paul George deal.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Right, let's see when do they start getting their picks.
It's gonna be a minute anyways, But what would you
do in terms of this offseason? Like they're in win
now mode? What are the moves they need to make
to become more of a playoff threat?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You got to stay as competitive as possible this offseason,
and I mean continue making moves. I think you stay
with Kawhi, you stay with Harden, you stay with Zoo,
and you run it back with as many of these
good role players that you can keep. I don't think
the Clippers are far away, Like I think you can't
really get much better than Harden right now with your
current situation. Man, I don't think there's a ton of
ways to get more, like, way way better than they are.
(22:25):
So I think you got to run it back next
season and stay competitive. You don't really have an option
when you don't have your pick, you know what I mean.
There's no incentive to losing basketball games.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yeah, it's crazy. They still don't outright own one of
their own firsts until twenty thirty. Everything else is either
dealt or it's a swap. So I do think that
if Harden does opt out, I would still give him
an extension. Obviously you hope that it's a more short
term deal two or three years, but he's playing at
a really high level. I just don't see the alternative
(22:56):
for them where they're building a contender around this group
that doesn't involve Harden. And the reality is, if James
Harden can't play at his regular season in the playoffs,
this team is never going to make a deep playoff run.
They need that to happen. And maybe you just don't
believe in that, but I don't really see the alternatives.
(23:17):
And then if I'm looking at like the peripheral pieces
on this roster, I just think they really need one
more reliable shooter in that Derek Jones Junior or Chris Dunroll,
because both those guys are so good defensively, but you
need somebody who can consistently knock down outside shots Otherwise
this is going to happen in a playoff setting. The
defense is going to roam off of them, ignore them,
(23:39):
force you to funnel the ball to them, force them
to try to make outside shots, and that's just really
damaging to your offense. Like Harden was terrible in this game.
But the other big issue for this Clippers offense was
having to play a non shooting wing as much as
they did make But Tooma was a good answer. But
you can't play all the menuts.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I think they had to, man, I think they, I mean,
but also both.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
But Nikoum can't play forty eight minutes, No.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
He can't. Bogie wasn't hitting shots. Norman Powell wasn't as
great as he normally what the level that you normally
expect from him. I didn't think the Clippers around Harden
like played as well either. I thought it was a
disappointing one. But Kawhi and Zubats I thought played as
well as you know you could have expected, as well
as you could have wanted. And that's why I say, Man,
(24:22):
I think the Clippers need to stay competitive, and I
don't think the answer is moving off of Harden and
for the regular season and in the playoffs. In totality,
I think he provides a really valuable role to this offense.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
And uh yeah, he keeps you alive in the regular
season because you have to be prepared for Kawhi to
miss fifty games every year and Harden is going to
come in huge for those fifty games, and they were
comfortably above five hundred without Kawhi this year. That's valuable.
That gives you a chance in the playoffs, and like
you said, they have to keep trying to win games
because they're not even going to be getting their own picks.
(24:52):
There's no incentive for them to tank. And they still
have Kawhi on the books. Like they've built a roster
that should be really good right now, when they have
like Vicha Zubats on a really good contract, they have
Norman Powell for another year on a pretty good contract.
They've got a really nice core, and I think Harden
has to be a part of that. Because there's no
other splashy free agent you're gonna sign. There's no big
(25:12):
blockbuster trade you're gonna make. You just have to take
his regular season value and then cross your fingers that
things change for him in the playoffs. And maybe they won't,
but there's not really another option. We do have a
super chat. Thank you, Fernandez. Te Was it a good series?
At least I was watching the Lakers lose Game seven,
I assume it was. It was a great series. This
(25:32):
was an awesome series. Terrible Game seven, just like absolutely blowout.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Well said, man, I mean yeah, the lead up to
this was awesome, Like I'm never gonna forget that game
with Aaron Gordon dunk, like that's an all timer to me.
And some of those early games we got in this
series were super competitive. But this is a letdown. I
do think the environment. I wonder if it played a factor, man,
Denver having that home home court advantage, like playing up
in them.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Man, yeah, I remember coming into this series. I picked
the Clippers in six because I was like, I can't
pick the Clippers in seven because I can't pick them
to win a Game seven in Denver, And then I
said that I thought they would coming into game seven
because I was like, I'll ride with my pick. But
it's tough. It's a difficult thing to do. Minnesota did it,
but it's a very difficult thing to do. And obviously
(26:19):
the other part of the thought process is it's very
difficult to beat Jokic in a game seven, and yet
that wasn't really the main factor in this one. He
was obviously still impactful and is drawing a ton of
defensive attention, but as a scorer didn't really have it going.
They did a really nice job guarding him with Small's
man like. They were physical as shit, But it's the playoffs.
Everybody's being physical as shit. Everybody's getting fouled on post
(26:41):
ups and Chris Donn had a really good strip on him.
They made Jokic more uncomfortable than the Timberwolves did last year.
Like they made him more uncomfortable than any playoff defense
that I've seen since he became the best player in
the world. And that's an accomplishment. That's something to take
home with you, and that's something that beats a Zuba
deserves a lot of credit for. And he's on one
of the best contracts in basketball. He's a great piece
(27:04):
for them moving forward. But that's not enough. Wasn't enough,
still didn't win the series. I do want to give
a shout out to zone defense logan if I may,
because you saw it come in huge for the Nuggets
in this game. You saw it come in huge for
the Clippers when they almost mounted their twenty point fourth
quarter comeback them turning to the zone and that's stifling
(27:24):
the Nuggets. We've seen it come in huge in the
Rockets Warriors series for both sides. Teams are only averaging
zero point eighty five points per possession against zone defense
in these playoffs. That is eighty five offensive rating. Yeah,
it has been so effective, and I'm really happy to
see it because Arry.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I'm just very pro switching up defensive schemes and stuff
for the sake of like just giving different looks, you know.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
One hundred percent, dude, and zone has become more common
than ever before throughout the NBA. That's been a trend.
Teams like Miami Cleveland, okay see using it more than
we've seen teams do in the history of the league.
Zone defense wasn't even legal in the NBA until two
thousand and two. And I do think it's really fun
that even though this is the era of the three
ball and everybody being able to shoot, and you think
(28:10):
like that will consistently punish zone and zone offenses were
more efficient on average than facing man in the regular season,
but in the playoffs it's a wrinkle you can throw
at people, and obviously we're seeing different types of zones,
but especially when there is like an exploitable non shooter
on the floor and you can funnel extra defensive attention
(28:31):
to the guys who you want to it can be really,
really effective, and I just think that that's a super
cool trend of the playoffs so far. The Nuggets are
going to advance to see the Thunder Logan. We will
not be previewing that game right now, but we will
talk about it in the next couple of days. I'm
very excited. I'm very excited to see the Jokic led
Nuggets take on what is, in my opinion, the best
(28:52):
team in basketball and had the best record this year
sixty eight wins, but the Nuggets got him twice. And
the Nuggets had the best offensive performance against the Thunder
that anybody did all year. And I just think it's
fun to see a historic defense against a historic offensive player.
And I'm interested to see what level Jokich can reach
offensively because this wasn't his best, but now he's got
another crack at it, and it's gonna be a challenging matchup,
(29:14):
but for him individually, maybe not as challenging as this matchup.
They did a great job on him, Like first game
of the year, the Thunder gave him hell, but Zoo
is just really really tough for Yokis to deal with.
Many such a great physical counter. He forces him to
play out on the perimeter. Morn doesn't want to do it.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I mean, if Yo gets due to Thunder, I think
it could be a legendary title run for him and
the Nuggets. If like I mean, I still think it's
gonna be a war. Like it's gonna be really really
tough on him, and this Nuggets team is a collective,
the Thunder the Thunder. I like what they can throw
at Jokics too.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I love what they can do to the Nuggets team offense,
but they obviously have nobody who can deal with Jokic
on an island like the Clippers do. So I'm very
interested to see what techtics they end up deploying, and
we will talk about all of that. I want to
be clear, I think the Thunder right very very strong
favorite in that matchup, very very strong, But I am
(30:08):
really excited to see it. The NBA eighty two game
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Speaker 3 (32:38):
So there you have it, folks, our thoughts on Game seven.
We will be back tomorrow talking about the other Game
seven between the Rockets and the Warriors and the start
of the second round because we've got Cavs pacers, which
I am super excited for. Also, shout out Greg Popovich, man.
We didn't shout him out yesterday but hangs it up
as a coach. Still is going to be in charge
(32:58):
of basketball operations for this But what a goat. He
is the goat. He is the goat. Twenty years of
winning fifty plus games every single year, did it in
a double big era, two centers, he was starting for
a number of years, game was played inside out, and
then he was a big part of the pick and
roll revolution throughout the two thousands and obviously kept the
(33:21):
core guys, but one of the best development organizations throughout
that time, best shooting development organization that there was. And
then bums me out a little bit that we didn't
get to see them really ride it out with more
Kawhi years because if Pop just never coached bad teams
after the nineteen ninety seven season when they tanked because
Robinson got hurt, that would have been awesome. I would
(33:42):
have loved to see that. But shout out to him
and what a basketball career. He is the goat. I
think he's the best coach of all time. Anyways, we'll
be back tomorrow. If you want more of our content,
you know where to find it all across our YouTube channel.
You can see our post game live streams. You can
also watch those back after the fact, and you can
listen to the show across all audio platforms. You can
(34:03):
also check us out across social TikTok, Instagram at nerd Sash,
Twitter at nerd Underscore Sash and you can join our
discord if you want to chat with the gang. You
can also check out our merch if you want. That
is linked at the link tree across our social media bios.
So that as always appreciate you guys. I've been Carson Braber,
I've been luging Camden and this was nerd Sash
The volume. No, no, oh my god, how could he
do that? What Charles Darwin?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
The nerves is where it's at.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Welcome everybody back into Nerd Sesh. As always, I'm carcon
Breber and alongside me is Logan Camden, and you already
know the drill. We've got one Game seven to talk
about today, and it was the Denver Nuggets Logan, absolutely
throttling the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, you picked this series
to be Denver and seven, so you nailed that. I
(00:45):
thought that we were going to be in for quite
a Game seven battle and it was just the opposite.
After the first quarter, this was the Nuggets show and
they obliterated the Clippers. How did they get this done? Logan?
And how impressed are you by the level that Denver
was able to find to close out this series.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
I was really impressed with Denver in this game. And
the thing that makes it really unique is that I
felt like it wasn't a dominant Nicola Jokic game. You know,
I thought the I thought that was going to be
the prerequisite for the Nuggets coming away with this one,
and I felt like it was powered by the role players. Honestly,
I thought the biggest difference in this game was the
fact that Denver's role players outplayed the Clippers, basically everybody.
(01:28):
It starts with the really impressive Denver defense. I thought
it was all hands on deck. Christian Brown, Westbrook, Aaron Gordon, Jokic, Like,
I thought everybody was really contributing on that end, and
everybody chipped in offensively too. Dude. You get a good
start from Westbrook, you get Brown making some big shots,
(01:48):
the collective nuggets, they outshoot the Clippers. I don't know
what it ends up being in garbage time. You know,
they were plus twelve from behind the arc and like
that I thought was a huge difference, and they just
go on huge runs to crush the Clippers in this game.
They dominate the second quarter thirty seven to twenty one.
They start on the seventeen to three run to open
(02:09):
the third quarter, and they end that one thirty five nineteen.
It was really strange, man, I don't know. I thought
they really convincingly won the hustle and effort categories. They
won the battle on the glass and making extra opportunities,
and it's just strange. Man. Jokic didn't play like his
best game. I thought he was off early with his jumper.
(02:31):
I thought he had some really reckless turnovers. I thought
the Denver collective was way better and it was powered
by this defense. Man. The role players really showed up
in this one. I don't know, man, I was wondering
if like they had a home like a home court advantage,
like in a massive way too, just because you know
they're playing up in that Denver air man. But the
role players really outplayed La in this one. Man. I
(02:53):
thought that was the big difference.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
I think definitely the most significant thing to come out
of this series for Denver is that they have absolutely
found their defensive identity again. That is what wins them
this game. It all starts on the defensive end. As
you mentioned, Jokic is certainly not giving you his best
offensive stuff in this one, but he is giving you
one of his better defensive performance. He has three steals
(03:16):
in a block in the first half. They were so engaged,
they were so connected on that side of the floor.
The zone really gave the Clippers trouble. Christian Brown was
phenomenal on James Harden, not just pressuring the ball up
at the level out of pick and roll, which Jokic
was also involved in but also just like being physical
with Harden, couldn't get a step on him in this one,
(03:37):
was forcing him to settle for some really tough step
back threes when he put up a shot at all.
Aaron Gordon I thought was excellent defensively, MPJ Jamalmury, all
of these guys were at the very least engaged, and
that is so huge to see from this team, because
even in Game one, like you saw them start to
set the tone on that side of the floor, where
(03:59):
after the first quarter in Game one, that team was
defending at like a really serious level that they hadn't
defended at basically for an eighty two game stretch. That
was easily their biggest problem this entire year, just their
issues defensively. Because you can talk about the depth and
that's a problem, and you can talk about concerns that
people have had with some of the spot up shooters,
(04:21):
the lack of three point volume. I understand that. I
always thought that was overstated, But the thing that was
keeping them from being an elite regular season team was
the fact that they were twentieth in defensive rating. And
I feel very silly because for ninety percent of the
year Logan. I was the one banging the drums saying,
once this Denver team just actually locks in and plays
(04:42):
up to their potential defensively, and we know that they
have the ability to be solid on that end. Their
offense is top two in basketball, and like they're going
to be a top two to three team in the West.
I said that for so much of the year, and
then that stretch at the end of the year really
really scared me. Man, those last couple weeks of the
regular season, thing got bad. And that makes this all
(05:02):
the more impressive. That you reach a low point where
you feel like your culture is in a bad place,
your defensive identity has been lost. You fire Mike Malone
after a decade and bringing you a championship. You clean
house entirely, obviously with Calvin Booth two, and you are
able to turn it around after three games of regular
season basketball to tune up, and you are able to
(05:24):
get serious in the biggest moments. And that's what ends
up winning you a game seven in the playoffs against
a really good team who did not play well today.
But you do that when your best player is off.
I just think that they have found the identity and
the fight and the competitiveness that helped make them a
championship team. They are playing like former champs again, and
(05:47):
that's huge to see because for so much of the
regular season they just couldn't consistently find that level. They
did it when they needed it most in this one.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, they really did. And I'm just surprised. Man. I
really thought this was gonna be a battle, and it
felt the momentum was way out of the Clippers' hands
coming out of the second half, like they didn't have
the juice. This game was over midway through the third quarter.
And I'm not gonna pile too much on the Clippers.
(06:16):
I'm gonna be honest with y'all. Right now, people are
probably people are expecting me to go off all hard,
and I thought Harden had a really good year, and
I think people are about to be really nasty towards
the guy this like right now, because he was down.
I'm not surprised at all, like by this by James Harden.
I know that he has his really high highs and
(06:36):
he has his really low lows, and I just think
that it just kind of balances itself out. But in
the big moments, I'm not banking on the guy, and
it was really uncharacteristic of him, like just to not
have as many field goal attempts and to be as aggressive.
I got to give credit to the Nuggets for how
they played him, to him and Kawhi both and just
the defense overall. You know, the Nuggets I thought brought
(06:57):
an end to end in this game against the Clippers,
but I'm not gonna pile on I thought the Clippers
were a really good basketball team, and whoever was coming
out of this series, I was gonna feel pretty good
for them putting up a fight, you know, coming into
this next round. But I bet on the Nuggets because
I believed in Jokic and I didn't believe in the Clippers,
(07:18):
And ultimately, I do think my lack of faith in
James Harden does kind of prove point here. But I'm
not gonna I thought James Harden had a really good
year for how old he is, and I think people
are just gonna take this way too negative because that's
the easy thing to do. But to be doing what
Harden is doing at his age is still really impressive,
and I don't want to pile on. Man, the Clippers
had a really good season, and they're a really good
(07:39):
basketball team. I don't think the fact that they got
bounced in Game seven changes any of that.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
For me, it's incredibly noble logan. I mean, it's a
great display of mercy, and I applaud you for it.
I thought that you were going to be dancing on
James Harden grave because after this game, man, you would
be justified in doing so. Like, did James Harden have
a really good season? Absolutely, he kept the Clippers afloat
when Kawhi was out, and then he caught fire as
(08:04):
a score in the last thirty games of the season,
he was averaging twenty five a game on good efficiency.
But that puts even more expectation on him to actually
be great in a game like this, and instead he
was horrifically bad. And we know the trend with James Harden.
We know that he has been a historic playoff dropper
(08:24):
throughout his prime due to some of his lack of
offensive versatility, not getting the same calls in the playoffs,
being extremely reliant on the step back three, which gets
a little bit predictable over the course of a playoff series,
and also he just didn't shoot the three at the
necessary level in the playoffs to remain the level of
score he was in the regular season, and then we
saw the dropping with the sixers, where he just wasn't
(08:46):
nearly the same threat scoring at the rim, and that
led to a lot more volatility in his game. So
those trends have been there, but to see it again
at this level in a game seven is just still
so disappointed to me. Like, yeah, he's thirty five, so
it's crazy that he had as good of a season
as he did, but this was so bad, dude. James
(09:07):
Harden has now played in seven game sevens in his
career logan, he's averaged nineteen point two points per game
seven point nine assists per game. He has shot thirty
five point five percent from the field and twenty three
percent from deep. And I was the guy who after
last game was saying, hey, let's give the guy some grace.
He's allowed to have one stinker like he did in
Game five, and then he bounces back with a really
(09:29):
nice showing in game six. But you certainly don't get
to have two of them in a three game span
when you've been your team's best offensive player. This year,
he was able to have some impact as a facilitator
racking up assists when they were putting two on the
ball out of pick and roll. But I have said
coming into the series and all series like he should
be great as an isolation scorer. In this matchup and
(09:50):
in this game, he was just smothered. Like Christian Brown
convincingly won that battle. Even Jamal Murray off a couple switches,
held up really really well to physic which has given
him trouble in the playoffs over the years, gave him
a lot of trouble again in this one. And there
were several possessions where he just ate up so much
clock and was killing the pace of the Clippers offense,
(10:12):
and then they get to like desperation mode at the
end of the shot clock when that's just not necessary.
So I tried to defend the guy this year. Logan, like, historically,
I don't think you and I are crazy far apart
on Harden. You are a big time hardened pessimist, But
I am on the side of being lower on Harden
maybe than the consensus, like nerdy NBA fan at least,
(10:32):
but I'm not inclined to try defending him again because
I thought this was the best basketball that he played
in years coming into the playoffs, and he played at
an absolutely atrocious, inexcusable level when his team needed him.
Mostly I said coming into the game, he.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Was the X factors.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I'm disappointed, man, I'm disappointed because when you play like
a star, when you play at an all NBA level
for thirty games of the year, you should not be
expected to fall apart like this in Game seven. And
I'm the fool for thinking that he could play a
good basketball game, I think at most. But it's so
disappointing still.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Throughout this series. I don't think Harden was the only
disappointing aspect for the Clippers. I think their collective shooting
was really disappointing. I think Norman Powell could have been
a little better. I thought Bogdanovich could have been a
lot better. I think Harden deserves the blame that he's
gonna get, but I don't think he was like the
only disappointing aspect for them. Chris Dunn I thought was
a disaster at points in this game. I mean just
(11:28):
smoking wide open stuff, plays that you have to convert
in a Game seven, and they didn't bring it tonight.
I mean, ultimately, I think it does come through. I
didn't believe in Kawhi delivered, and Kawhi didn't have a
good game to night. I thought he was just a
little bit off, but I mean it was still to
his standard, to his standard. Yeah, Kawhi was their best
player for the Clippers, but like to you know, the
(11:50):
Kawhi like terminator. Kawhi wasn't out there tonight. But this
is what I expected from Harden. Man, I'm telling you,
he gives and he takes, and he gives and he takes.
But in the biggest moments, I just I don't bet
on the guy. And so also Man, the Clippers. It's crazy, man,
Clippers just got this stank on them. Man, it got
(12:10):
this dark cloud. It follows them everywhere, and I don't
know what it's gonna take to get out from under it. Man.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Harden was awful, absolutely horrible. But as you said, like
Chris Dunn, Derek Jones Junior, their inability both of them
to knock down and open three off the catch, just
to be offensive threats in this game, especially done because
Derek Jones Junior was at least able to do some
stuff around the rim off the roll on the offensive
glass but both of them really hurt this offense with
(12:40):
their lack of shooting, and I thought that was costly
against the zone, and the Clippers entire offense was very tentative.
They were very unsure of how to attack the zone.
So I got to put my hand up. I put
too much faith in James Harden. He taught me this lesson.
It's not a lesson that I've had to learn many times,
because normally I've been on the side of not being
super high on James Harden in the playoff environment. But
(13:03):
I thought he could certainly give you more than this
in this one. I do think it's disappointing for the Clippers.
I also think this says more about Denver, though, because
when they can defend at this level and when they
get these sort of role player contributions, they are just
a fantastic basketball team. That was another difference in this one.
We talk about Chris Donn and Derek Jones Junior being
(13:24):
incapable to make those outside shots for the Nuggets more
questionable shooters. It was the exact opposite. Christian Brown shoots
the hell out of the ball and it's just phenomenal.
In this one, Russell Westbrook shoots the hell out of
the ball and is phenomenal. Peyton Watson makes a three
against a closeout and gives you some really good minutes,
Like all of those offensive question marks for the Clippers
were terrible and for the Nuggets they were really, really good.
(13:47):
And I want to give props to Denver's role players
for what they did in totality in this game, and
to Russell Westbrook for what he did in this entire series. Man,
this was such a good rust year in the regular season,
and then there were a few matchups in a playoff
type environment where you felt like his lack of shooting
was being exposed and the decision making wasn't what you wanted,
(14:09):
and you question how much can he really play in
these big playoff series? Man? Was he great in four
out of six games that he played in this series.
He was only bad in one of them because even
like Game one, his shot isn't falling, but he closes
that game. He makes so many huge effort plays. I
thought his defense was phenomenal flying around in the zone.
(14:32):
In this one, he intercepts a pass that leads to
a transition opportunity. Just like being a great playmaker and
athlete on that end of the floor. He's attacking the
offensive glass. This guy had so many offensive rebounds in
this series, and he's making shots like he's knocking down
the open threes, and he's bringing you his playmaking values.
(14:53):
So that was just really awesome to see from Russ.
For Clippers fans, it probably wanted to make them take
their own lives, just considering the fact that he shot
what twenty percent from the field in the playoffs for
them last year. But I was really really happy to
see his regular season value translate and just see how
transformative his energy was in a number of these games,
(15:16):
and when he's making shots, he's just a really, really
good basketball player. Christian Brown another guy who, when he's
knocking down his outside shots, is going to be impactful
in multiple ways. I thought he was the other key
energy guy for this team. He's attacking the offensive class.
His defense on James Harden in Game seven and in
the back half of this series was just quite good overall,
(15:37):
but especially in this one. I mean, he just put
the clamps on him and then he's always gonna cut,
he's always gonna run the floor hard and transition, he
made some nice reads in this game, those guys were
phenomenal and the most consistently great contributor for the Nuggets.
In terms of a quote unquote role player, this guy's
probably too good to even be classified as that. But
(15:57):
Aaron Gordon in this series Man gives you nineteen six
and two on sixty one percent true shooting, was so
consistently impactful, great on the offensive glass, great as a cutter,
great attacking mismatches, had so many effective successful post ups.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Ranks. Where do you think he ranks among like top
X players you'd want on your team?
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Brouh, He's got to be right around fifty. I don't know.
He's so impactful. The gap between him and Jamal Murray
is not big for me.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
I think that's right. I mean, just consistently, like baseline wise,
because I do want it. Jamal was on and hit
some crazy shot, hit some crazy shots in this game too,
like it was a collective effort from everybody. But I
don't think there's a huge gap between Jamal and AG.
I don't think it's ridiculous to say that.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I mean, dude, with the jump that he has taken
as a jump shooter this year, where he shoots forty
four percent from three in the regular season, but also
the mid range, Like you just see him coming around
some screens right getting to the mid range. He's just
able to keep the defense honest with his jump shot
at an entirely different level than he's ever been able
(17:02):
to before. And then you get the rebounding and the
defensive versatility and the mismatch attacking and the transition stuff.
He's just awesome and he was fantastic. So everybody did
what they needed to do on both sides of the
floor for Denver to not just win a totally unremarkable
Yokic game, but to dominate it. And I do want
to give credit to MPG for stepping up and making shots.
(17:24):
Even with an injury. Jamal Murray ends up having a
really good series. Man like Game four he was bad.
Outside of that, you have a lot of really good
Jamal performances, and even like at the start of the
second quarter in this game, they go on a seven
to zero run with Yokic off the floor. I just
thought that was so telling about the performances that you
(17:46):
were getting from some of those supporting players. Their intensity
was there, their production was there. It is really, really
ugly for the Clippers to just get crushed like this
when Jokic isn't at his best in a Game seven
like that shouldn't happen. But the Nuggets deserve a lot
of credit for everybody around him doing the right things.
And again, Yoki's doing the right things defensively, being actually
(18:10):
really active up at the level. His hands are so phenomenal.
He had sixteen steals in the series. He has a
big block on Zoo, He's at least being big around
the rim, and he's not doing the thing that sometimes
he does in the regular season where he'll literally just
like back off of contests at the rim because he
doesn't want to get a foul, and he's not getting
exert as much energy. Like he's obviously still not a
good rim protector, but he was playing very competitive, solid defense,
(18:34):
and I think he just continues to show that when
you get him in the playoffs, he's totally capable of
doing that high leverage moments. He is always going to
be able to rise to that solid level defensively, and
he did it, and that was a big part of
Denver turning things around on that side of the ball
in this series. But I thought everybody was better than
they were in the regular season, like literally, down to
a man, that's the difference maker for this team. That's
(18:54):
how they win this series.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
Yeah, and I think it's really encouraging that they can
for the level that they can reach in the in
the next series and upcoming. Like, like you said, man,
that was the biggest question about the Nuggets and why
I had started to lose faith in them. It's hard
to it's a long season, man, but when the team
shows you that in the back half of the season, Like,
I don't blame people for bailing on the Nuggets. I
was super low on them, even though you know I
(19:18):
had them winning this series. But again, that was more
like this was based a lot of my hatred and
the Clippers, I mean, like and my faith in Jokic.
Like I was also betting on the best player in
the world to come through, and Jokic did certainly deliver.
But it's really encouraging to were able to reach I mean, I.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Mean, did he buy Jokic standards. I think this is
the worst playoff series he has played.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Me still, I think. Don't get me wrong, I don't
think this was a great Jokic series, but he did
enough and like.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yeah, he's obviously still by far the best player on
the floor in this series. I'm just saying, yeah, he
struggled more offensively than he has in a long time
in the player.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
He's still take him for granted, is all I'm saying.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Well, you're preaching the choir on that one. I would
never take him for granted, but.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
A really good job on him in this series.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Did the best job anybody on the planet could have.
He is the best jocic devender. I think he just
stamped that in this series. That's why it's so big
for these other nuggets to step up and still get
things done. On the flip side, I do feel for
Kawhi Man because he wasn't his best in this game,
but he was still pretty good, and he was quite
good overall in this series. Now, Kawhi talks definitely got
(20:25):
out of hand, Like we had the super chat after
a game two, is he the best player in the world?
Should he be? In best in the world talks, Like
it was kind of funny seeing everybody flip and do
a full one to eighty from like not believing in
Kawhi at all, not really acknowledging him because he hasn't
been consistently healthy to then the viral tweet the next
day was if he had been healthy, he's in conversations
(20:45):
with Jordan and Lebron. Like Kawhi does have his limitations,
doesn't get to the rim, doesn't get to the line
at the same rate, isn't a reliably good playmaker, although
he definitely improved in this series as a playmaker. Things
went along. I thought God a lot better making some
of those skip passes against doubles and whatnot. But like,
this is not Kawhi of a few years ago. That's
(21:06):
why even after his Game two explosion, I said, like
I only feel comfortable putting him in top twelve talks,
But he played like that top twelve player in this series.
Like he played really good basketball. Overall, Harden falls apart.
Nobody around him can make a shot from the outside.
So with all that in mind, Logan, what is next
for the Clippers? Where do they go from here?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Man? I don't know.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
They've got one more year of both Kawhi and Harden
on the books. They have more years after that of Kawhi,
but this is going to be the final year of hardness.
Contractor I guess he has a player.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Option because of the Paul George deal.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Right, let's see when do they start getting their picks.
It's gonna be a minute anyways, But what would you
do in terms of this offseason? Like they're in win
now mode? What are the moves they need to make
to become more of a playoff threat?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
You got to stay as competitive as possible this offseason,
and I mean continue making moves. I think you stay
with Kawhi, you stay with Harden, you stay with Zoo,
and you run it back with as many of these
good role players that you can keep. I don't think
the Clippers are far away, Like I think you can't
really get much better than Harden right now with your
current situation. Man, I don't think there's a ton of
ways to get more, like, way way better than they are.
(22:25):
So I think you got to run it back next
season and stay competitive. You don't really have an option
when you don't have your pick, you know what I mean.
There's no incentive to losing basketball games.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Yeah, it's crazy. They still don't outright own one of
their own firsts until twenty thirty. Everything else is either
dealt or it's a swap. So I do think that
if Harden does opt out, I would still give him
an extension. Obviously you hope that it's a more short
term deal two or three years, but he's playing at
a really high level. I just don't see the alternative
(22:56):
for them where they're building a contender around this group
that doesn't involve Harden. And the reality is, if James
Harden can't play at his regular season in the playoffs,
this team is never going to make a deep playoff run.
They need that to happen. And maybe you just don't
believe in that, but I don't really see the alternatives.
(23:17):
And then if I'm looking at like the peripheral pieces
on this roster, I just think they really need one
more reliable shooter in that Derek Jones Junior or Chris Dunroll,
because both those guys are so good defensively, but you
need somebody who can consistently knock down outside shots Otherwise
this is going to happen in a playoff setting. The
defense is going to roam off of them, ignore them,
(23:39):
force you to funnel the ball to them, force them
to try to make outside shots, and that's just really
damaging to your offense. Like Harden was terrible in this game.
But the other big issue for this Clippers offense was
having to play a non shooting wing as much as
they did make But Tooma was a good answer. But
you can't play all the menuts.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
I think they had to, man, I think they, I mean,
but also both.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
But Nikoum can't play forty eight minutes, No.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
He can't. Bogie wasn't hitting shots. Norman Powell wasn't as
great as he normally what the level that you normally
expect from him. I didn't think the Clippers around Harden
like played as well either. I thought it was a
disappointing one. But Kawhi and Zubats I thought played as
well as you know you could have expected, as well
as you could have wanted. And that's why I say, Man,
(24:22):
I think the Clippers need to stay competitive, and I
don't think the answer is moving off of Harden and
for the regular season and in the playoffs. In totality,
I think he provides a really valuable role to this offense.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
And uh yeah, he keeps you alive in the regular
season because you have to be prepared for Kawhi to
miss fifty games every year and Harden is going to
come in huge for those fifty games, and they were
comfortably above five hundred without Kawhi this year. That's valuable.
That gives you a chance in the playoffs, and like
you said, they have to keep trying to win games
because they're not even going to be getting their own picks.
(24:52):
There's no incentive for them to tank. And they still
have Kawhi on the books. Like they've built a roster
that should be really good right now, when they have
like Vicha Zubats on a really good contract, they have
Norman Powell for another year on a pretty good contract.
They've got a really nice core, and I think Harden
has to be a part of that. Because there's no
other splashy free agent you're gonna sign. There's no big
(25:12):
blockbuster trade you're gonna make. You just have to take
his regular season value and then cross your fingers that
things change for him in the playoffs. And maybe they won't,
but there's not really another option. We do have a
super chat. Thank you, Fernandez. Te Was it a good series?
At least I was watching the Lakers lose Game seven,
I assume it was. It was a great series. This
(25:32):
was an awesome series. Terrible Game seven, just like absolutely blowout.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Well said, man, I mean yeah, the lead up to
this was awesome, Like I'm never gonna forget that game
with Aaron Gordon dunk, like that's an all timer to me.
And some of those early games we got in this
series were super competitive. But this is a letdown. I
do think the environment. I wonder if it played a factor, man,
Denver having that home home court advantage, like playing up
in them.
Speaker 3 (25:58):
Man, yeah, I remember coming into this series. I picked
the Clippers in six because I was like, I can't
pick the Clippers in seven because I can't pick them
to win a Game seven in Denver, And then I
said that I thought they would coming into game seven
because I was like, I'll ride with my pick. But
it's tough. It's a difficult thing to do. Minnesota did it,
but it's a very difficult thing to do. And obviously
(26:19):
the other part of the thought process is it's very
difficult to beat Jokic in a game seven, and yet
that wasn't really the main factor in this one. He
was obviously still impactful and is drawing a ton of
defensive attention, but as a scorer didn't really have it going.
They did a really nice job guarding him with Small's
man like. They were physical as shit, But it's the playoffs.
Everybody's being physical as shit. Everybody's getting fouled on post
(26:41):
ups and Chris Donn had a really good strip on him.
They made Jokic more uncomfortable than the Timberwolves did last year.
Like they made him more uncomfortable than any playoff defense
that I've seen since he became the best player in
the world. And that's an accomplishment. That's something to take
home with you, and that's something that beats a Zuba
deserves a lot of credit for. And he's on one
of the best contracts in basketball. He's a great piece
(27:04):
for them moving forward. But that's not enough. Wasn't enough,
still didn't win the series. I do want to give
a shout out to zone defense logan if I may,
because you saw it come in huge for the Nuggets
in this game. You saw it come in huge for
the Clippers when they almost mounted their twenty point fourth
quarter comeback them turning to the zone and that's stifling
(27:24):
the Nuggets. We've seen it come in huge in the
Rockets Warriors series for both sides. Teams are only averaging
zero point eighty five points per possession against zone defense
in these playoffs. That is eighty five offensive rating. Yeah,
it has been so effective, and I'm really happy to
see it because Arry.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
I'm just very pro switching up defensive schemes and stuff
for the sake of like just giving different looks, you know.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
One hundred percent, dude, and zone has become more common
than ever before throughout the NBA. That's been a trend.
Teams like Miami Cleveland, okay see using it more than
we've seen teams do in the history of the league.
Zone defense wasn't even legal in the NBA until two
thousand and two. And I do think it's really fun
that even though this is the era of the three
ball and everybody being able to shoot, and you think
(28:10):
like that will consistently punish zone and zone offenses were
more efficient on average than facing man in the regular season,
but in the playoffs it's a wrinkle you can throw
at people, and obviously we're seeing different types of zones,
but especially when there is like an exploitable non shooter
on the floor and you can funnel extra defensive attention
(28:31):
to the guys who you want to it can be really,
really effective, and I just think that that's a super
cool trend of the playoffs so far. The Nuggets are
going to advance to see the Thunder Logan. We will
not be previewing that game right now, but we will
talk about it in the next couple of days. I'm
very excited. I'm very excited to see the Jokic led
Nuggets take on what is, in my opinion, the best
(28:52):
team in basketball and had the best record this year
sixty eight wins, but the Nuggets got him twice. And
the Nuggets had the best offensive performance against the Thunder
that anybody did all year. And I just think it's
fun to see a historic defense against a historic offensive player.
And I'm interested to see what level Jokich can reach
offensively because this wasn't his best, but now he's got
another crack at it, and it's gonna be a challenging matchup,
(29:14):
but for him individually, maybe not as challenging as this matchup.
They did a great job on him, Like first game
of the year, the Thunder gave him hell, but Zoo
is just really really tough for Yokis to deal with.
Many such a great physical counter. He forces him to
play out on the perimeter. Morn doesn't want to do it.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I mean, if Yo gets due to Thunder, I think
it could be a legendary title run for him and
the Nuggets. If like I mean, I still think it's
gonna be a war. Like it's gonna be really really
tough on him, and this Nuggets team is a collective,
the Thunder the Thunder. I like what they can throw
at Jokics too.
Speaker 3 (29:47):
I love what they can do to the Nuggets team offense,
but they obviously have nobody who can deal with Jokic
on an island like the Clippers do. So I'm very
interested to see what techtics they end up deploying, and
we will talk about all of that. I want to
be clear, I think the Thunder right very very strong
favorite in that matchup, very very strong, But I am
(30:08):
really excited to see it. The NBA eighty two game
grind is done, and now the real fun begins. The
NBA Playoffs are here and it's time for all the
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Speaker 3 (32:38):
So there you have it, folks, our thoughts on Game seven.
We will be back tomorrow talking about the other Game
seven between the Rockets and the Warriors and the start
of the second round because we've got Cavs pacers, which
I am super excited for. Also, shout out Greg Popovich, man.
We didn't shout him out yesterday but hangs it up
as a coach. Still is going to be in charge
(32:58):
of basketball operations for this But what a goat. He
is the goat. He is the goat. Twenty years of
winning fifty plus games every single year, did it in
a double big era, two centers, he was starting for
a number of years, game was played inside out, and
then he was a big part of the pick and
roll revolution throughout the two thousands and obviously kept the
(33:21):
core guys, but one of the best development organizations throughout
that time, best shooting development organization that there was. And
then bums me out a little bit that we didn't
get to see them really ride it out with more
Kawhi years because if Pop just never coached bad teams
after the nineteen ninety seven season when they tanked because
Robinson got hurt, that would have been awesome. I would
(33:42):
have loved to see that. But shout out to him
and what a basketball career. He is the goat. I
think he's the best coach of all time. Anyways, we'll
be back tomorrow. If you want more of our content,
you know where to find it all across our YouTube channel.
You can see our post game live streams. You can
also watch those back after the fact, and you can
listen to the show across all audio platforms. You can
(34:03):
also check us out across social TikTok, Instagram at nerd Sash,
Twitter at nerd Underscore Sash and you can join our
discord if you want to chat with the gang. You
can also check out our merch if you want. That
is linked at the link tree across our social media bios.
So that as always appreciate you guys. I've been Carson Braber,
I've been luging Camden and this was nerd Sash
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