May 4, 2025 • 19 mins
The Nuggets defeat the Clippers in Game 7, adding another chapter to their history of decisive playoff games and setting up a second-round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver's victory came through unexpected heroes as Russell Westbrook, Christian Brown, and Aaron Gordon stepped up while Jokić and Murray had quieter offensive performances.
• Russell Westbrook delivered a revenge game against his former team with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals
• Jokić and Murray combined for only about 30 points, yet the Nuggets still dominated
• Christian Brown continues to develop as a two-way player, hitting big shots and defending well
• Aaron Gordon battled through injury to contain Kawhi Leonard effectively
• The Thunder series presents challenges with their youth, rest advantage, and 68-win regular season
• Denver has experience on their side, with the Thunder's first-round sweep of Memphis providing little playoff resistance
• Jokić should have an easier matchup against the Thunder's frontcourt than he did against Zubac
• Coach Adelman has made a strong case to become the permanent head coach with his tactical decisions
• The Nuggets' core four deserves another season together with improved bench support
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar
.
Wow, I think we all can take adeep breath now.
That was quite the series.
And of course the Nuggets wentto Game 7.
That's what they do.
They go to Game 7 more thananyone.
I can remember when they werefirst coming up this
(00:25):
Jokic-Murray era, they had aGame 7 against the Spurs.
They won that against theBlazers.
They happened to lose that onein the bubble.
They went to Game 7 against theJazz and the Clippers, after
both coming back from 3-1 inboth of those to win those.
And then, of course, last yearwe had the devastating loss in
Game 7 to the T-Wolves.
So of course last year we hadthe devastating loss in game
seven to the T-wolves.
So of course the Nuggets wentto game seven.
(00:47):
But they came out victoriousand I am just so happy.
It was quite the beat down andwe will definitely get into that
.
But first let's let's look backa little bit.
Since we last spoke.
I was very right and very wrongon some of my predictions for
(01:09):
what was going to happen ingames five, six and seven.
And let's start with game five.
Game five I predicted it wasgoing to be the Jamal Murray
game.
I predicted he was going tohave more than 30 points and the
Nuggets were going to win.
Well, in reality, it was theJamal Murray game and he had
more than 40 points 43 to beexact and the Nuggets did win.
(01:31):
So I will chalk that up as acorrect prediction.
Game six I predicted it wasgoing to be the Norman Powell
and Nicholas Batum game.
I predicted they were going togo for over 60 points, just
because that's what happens tothe Nuggets, these random role
players just never miss and endup destroying us in a game.
Well, it kind of was the NormanPowell and Nicholas Batum game.
(01:55):
They didn't score as much as Ithought they would.
They combined for about 30points, but I would say both
those guys were a huge factor inthe Clippers' victory.
James Harden and Kawhi Leonard,I think, led the way with
scoring, but I'll count that asa, let's say, a half win.
And then in Game 7, of course, Imade a prediction for Game 7
(02:17):
because I knew the Nuggets weregoing to Game 7, because that's
what they do.
So my prediction was it wasgoing to be a Jokic game.
He was going to hit a historicshot and the Nuggets were going
to win.
Well, jokic did not have ahistoric game.
He was actually kind of veryaverage on offense and he played
(02:38):
great defense.
I will say that he did step updefensively and it allowed the
others to have kind of a greatgame and so I'm not complaining.
The others stepped up.
The Nuggets absolutelydominated the game from really
after the first quarter.
For the rest of the game theNuggets had it in control and it
was so fun to watch and it waspretty incredible.
(03:02):
If you would have told me thatJokic would only have, I think,
14 or 16 points and not really alot of rebounds or assists, and
Jamal Murray would only scoresame thing, about 15 points, I
would have thought the Nuggetswould have lost by 20.
But the fact that RussellWestbrook, christian Brown,
(03:30):
aaron Gordon they all stepped upand were huge, it gives you
such hope of what this Nuggetsteam can be.
Russell Westbrook his numbersdon't even do justice to what
impact he had on the game.
He had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals,
and just the energy that hebrought, I don't think there was
any way that he was going tolet them lose that game last
(03:52):
night.
We mentioned in our previousepisode that Russ played for the
Clippers last year and this wasa bit of a revenge game for him
.
I think he kind of made thatpoint when he had one of his
steals in the second half andthe Nuggets were already up by
30 and he just dunked it so hardon a breakaway steal and just
kind of hung on the rim andswung on there because he was
(04:14):
trying to get a technical,because he knew that he was
going to turn to the crowd andjust pump them up and pretty
much cuss out the entireClippers fans and bench and just
pretty much ignite ball arena.
And I loved every second.
It was so fun.
I was so happy for him.
He's had his ups and downs thisseason, but that is exactly why
(04:37):
we got Russell Westbrook andit's incredible to think that
he's doing what he's doing forus on a minimum contract.
So I loved it.
That was a Russell Westbrookmasterpiece and the fact that it
was in game seven makes it evenmore perfect.
Christian Brown he hit hugeshots.
(04:58):
He guarded James Harden.
He does all the little thingsfor us and you can just see his
growth game after game.
His shot is getting moreconfident.
He has become such a weapon onthe fast break.
He's kind of racking up theseassists now like just making
these little pocket passes orfinding the open guy on the wing
(05:19):
and it's just so fun thatobviously it was a big deal to
lose KCP.
But Christian has stepped upand been incredible and I think
he's just getting better andbetter.
And then AG Mr Nugget, what awarrior, like he still, I think,
is bothered by that calf and hedoesn't have his full
(05:39):
athleticism.
But man, he battled Kawhi lastnight and he just shut him down.
Really, kawhi is going to hithis shots because he's amazing.
But Aaron was there every stepof the way.
He was incredibly physical withthem.
He gave it right back to him onthe offensive end and AG was
amazing.
(05:59):
So those three guys on top ofJokic and Murray still
contributed a little bit, butnot nearly what I thought they
were going to, led to anabsolutely fantastic victory.
It was very nice to have a nice,easy win and not have a heart
attack at the end, although Iwill say the bench came in and
quickly gave up like a 12-0 run.
(06:21):
So we had to put the startersback in and I loved it.
Coach Alderman was not messingaround.
He put the starters back in andsaid no, just shut this down,
let's move on to round two.
And that's exactly what theydid.
And so, as I was thinking aboutthis game last night and this
morning, really there was somany reasons why that win last
(06:42):
night was huge, and so I'm goingto count down from number five
to number one of why I thoughtthat one victory was will change
so much, not only how we talkabout certain players on this
team, but also this team for thenext couple of years on what
they'll look like.
So, number five obviously weadvanced to the next round.
(07:03):
We still have a shottechnically at the championship
this year.
Now we'll talk about this in afew minutes we have to play the
thunder, but we are still aliveand have a shot, and that's all
we need.
Number four David Adelman.
If it were me, I think thisseries victory clinches the fact
that he should get a shot asthe full-time coach next year.
(07:24):
I think the players respect him.
I think he's shown that he canhandle in-game situations really
well and it's just.
He's a great change of pace andit might be exactly what this
team needs as far as he isamazing as a tactician, like.
From everything I hear fromreporters, from the players, it
really sounds like he doesamazing at preparing the players
(07:48):
, coming up with plays that willwork against specific
situations on the other team,and it seems to be working.
So I think David Adelman shouldbe our coach next year.
Not only that, I think thisseries victory this is my number
three reason I think we need tokeep the core four together.
I know that's crazy, but thisteam shows that they work so
(08:12):
well together.
They know what each other isthinking after all these years
of playing together.
If they were healthier and wehad any sort of a bench which
again thank you, calvin Boothand Michael Malone for that
disaster of just making sure wedid not but if we had any sort
of bench where these guys couldget through the regular season
(08:33):
healthy, I don't see any reasonwhy they wouldn't be a
championship contender again,and so I really think this
series showed that they deserveanother year.
But give them another year withveteran players that can eat up
some minutes in the regularseason, veteran players that can
handle a bench unit and notjust lose 12 points in two
(08:57):
minutes every time they come in.
Give them any sort of help, andI think this team can be
dangerous for hopefully thisyear, next year, years moving
forward, and so I think it washuge that I really think the
core four should stay together.
Number two I think this was hugefor the Russell Westbrook
(09:18):
legacy.
He's one of the best players tonever win a championship and,
like I said, I think the Thunderare going to make that
extremely difficult this year.
But I think this allows Russ tomaybe stay on the team next
year and, like I said, with alittle bit more well rounded of
a team next year, this teamcould be extremely dangerous and
(09:41):
I really think Jokic and Murray, they want to give Russ that
championship and kind of be thecrown jewel at the end of an
amazing career.
And number one, of course, isJokic's legacy.
It was kind of sneaky but thiswould have been a big yeah.
But when people were talkingabout the greatness of Jokic, he
(10:02):
of course was our best playerand leader last year when the
Nuggets lost to the Timberwolvesin game seven.
Now, it wasn't necessarily hisfault.
He had an amazing game.
The others kind of fell apartaround him, but he was part of
it.
He.
He got extremely tired andcouldn't keep up with, uh, carl
Anthony Towns and Nas Reed andall those big guys.
(10:23):
And if one of the greatestplayers ever were to lose two
game sevens on this home courttwo years in a row, it would
have been a tarnish on anargument to make him one of the
greatest players ever.
So obviously I'm glad they won.
But I really do think that thiskind of flips that narrative
(10:46):
completely where, even though hewasn't the greatest in this
game seven, he obviously is ourrock and was huge on defense and
the fact that we did win thatgame seven now makes the nuggets
four and two in the yokich eragame sevens and he's averaging
26, 12 and seven in those gamesand so he is obviously the main
(11:10):
catalyst to all those victoriesand even in those losses he's
had amazing games.
So I would say, just forJokic's legacy, that game was
huge last night and, like I said, who knows what's going to
happen in the next game?
It could be even bigger for hislegacy if he's able to pull off
the upset against the Thunder.
So let's talk about the Thunder.
(11:30):
I think the Thunder weresitting at home and they were
probably the Clippers' biggestfans, because I don't think they
want any part of the Nuggets.
Now I'm not saying that theyshouldn't be favored, and if you
look at some of the sportsbooks they are huge favorites
(11:51):
but I think the Nuggets are atougher matchup for the Thunder.
Now, the reason I say that isall the reasons why the Clippers
lost against the Nuggets.
Kawhi he is great in his ownway, but he does not take over
games like Jamal Murray can.
He does not take over gameslike Jokic can.
(12:11):
The Thunder.
They have some size, but theydon't have anyone like Zubac to
handle Jokic.
Jokic should have a much easiertime in the Thunder series than
in the Clippers series.
Zubac was absolutely amazing inthe Clippers series.
He played incredible defense.
Jokic was obviously gettingfrustrated and hats off to him.
(12:34):
It was one of the bestone-on-one defensive
performances against Jokic I'veever seen.
But the Thunder don't have thatand, uh, trust me, I fully admit
that this series could gohorribly, horribly wrong for the
Nuggets.
Just off the top of my head.
A, the Thunder are amazing atbasketball.
(12:56):
That's a good place to start.
The Thunder are well-rested.
They swept Memphis as fast asyou possibly could and they've
been sitting at home.
If they had any injuries, I'msure they're healthy by now.
And the Thunder are deep, theycan play their full roster and
it's all quality, qualitybasketball players.
(13:17):
The Thunder have the home courtadvantage.
That will obviously help notonly to start the series off at
home but if it does go deep,they'll have that game five and
game seven at home as well.
And the thunder, technically,if you if you follow the votes
this year have the mvp, uh, butwe, we shall see who the real
(13:38):
mvp is.
So I fully admit the thunderare the favorites and in most
scenarios the Thunder will winthis series.
But Nuggets fans, there is hope.
The Nuggets have so much moreexperience.
The Thunder are definitely ateam that is up and coming.
(13:59):
Their team is pretty much allyoung guys and while they have a
little bit of experience, it isnothing compared to what the
nuggets have been through thelast couple years.
Like I said, the game sevens,the championship run, just the
overall playoff experience, isdefinitely on the nugget side.
I think that makes a big impactin the playoffs, because
(14:20):
playoff basketball is sodifferent than the regular
season.
Uh, the thunder 68 wins in theregular season is incredible,
but it's a whole different sportin the playoffs and I don't
think they got a good taste ofthat against Memphis.
The Memphis series was prettymuch just say glorified
scrimmage.
Memphis was falling apart in somany ways and then they lost
(14:40):
jaw and it was pretty much over.
So the thunder, they they couldbe rusty.
Um, they've been sitting athome for a long time.
The nuggets are going to be.
They're they could be rusty.
They've been sitting at homefor a long time.
The Nuggets are going to be,they're going to be tired, but
they're going to be kind of inshape, on point, with all their
mental and physical just reallythe stress that they've had to
(15:03):
go through the last couple ofdays and weeks.
They are going to be ready toflip that switch a little bit
easier than the Thunder, I'mhoping.
And really the Nuggets arepeaking.
Like I said, adam took overwith three games left in the
regular season and now we'reseven games into the playoffs.
That's 10 games, and it feelslike the Nuggets have just
gotten tighter as a unit.
(15:24):
They've kind of found that joyagain.
Tighter as a unit, they've kindof found that joy again.
They really just seem likethey're finding different ways
to not only execute in the gamesbut also prepare for games, and
it's a beautiful thing becauseit's not just Jokic, it's been
more of a team effort.
Since Adelman took over,adelman's been impressive with
(15:47):
his in-game substitutionpatterns.
He's been impressive with justthe decisions that he makes as
far as how to play certaindefenses.
I've just been really impressedwith him.
We mentioned Christian Brown,has been peaking.
Peyton Watson, the last coupleof games, has even been putting
in some good minutes, so I'mhoping he gets a little bit more
time during the Thunder seriesas well.
(16:09):
And then, like I said, ourdefense.
Our defense was terrible in theregular season and I don't know
if it's just because it's theplayoffs now or if it's
something that Adelman is doing,but our defense, especially in
those last couple of gamesagainst Clippers, was pretty
incredible.
I think the play that reallydemoralized the Clippers was I
(16:32):
forget who was driving into thelane, but they had a nice little
pass to Zubac.
Zubac was going up for a dunkand Jokic just blocked him.
The Nuggets grabbed, the ball,ran out and I think Murray got a
layup on the other end.
I think that just goes to showyou that Jokic, with his quick
hands, his basketball IQ andthen you even get plays like
(16:52):
that with his, his athleticismhe can play some defense on the
backend and it's making a big,big difference for the nuggets.
So I mentioned that Zubachplayed amazing against Jokic and
the thunder.
While they are long, they arenot big.
Chet Holmgren is seven feettall and extremely skinny, but
(17:14):
he's an amazing shot blocker.
So they brought in IsaiahHartenstein to give them a
little bit more size, a littlebit more beef and then hopefully
have Chet kind of roamingaround to be able to block
Jokic's shot when the Nuggetsare on offense.
And so this theory of defensehas technically worked for both
(17:34):
Minnesota and the Lakers in thelast couple of years.
But Jokic he does figure it out,and I'm really interested to
see, just with this combination,how it's going to work in the
playoffs for the Thunder, justto see if Jokic is able to kind
of slice right through it andthey have to try something else,
or if it's a somewhat impactful.
(17:55):
And so I think that's gonna beone of the big keys to the
series.
And then my biggest reason forhope is we have Nicole Jokic and
Jamal Murray.
I think nobody rises to themoment bigger than those guys,
and the fact that we were ableto win this last series with
(18:16):
each of them, um, I would sayeach had one fantastic game and
in the other games they werepretty much themselves, like it
wasn't as if they had incredibleperformances all across the
board.
And so if we do get a serieswhere each of them steps up and
has two, three incredibleperformances, then I think the
Nuggets have a shot.
(18:37):
Like I said, I think it's goingto be extremely tough.
The Thunder are a great team,but my prediction, as I
mentioned at the very beginning,the Nuggets don't know how to
do anything but play seven gameseries.
So this series is going sevenand, even though it's in
Oklahoma City, the Nuggets willwin in seven and move to the
(18:59):
Western Conference Finals.
Thank you so much everyone.
We will have a podcast againlater this week to talk about
the first couple games of theOklahoma City Thunder series,
and I am so excited for it.
Go Nuggets.
All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar
.
Wow, I think we all can take adeep breath now.
That was quite the series.
And of course the Nuggets wentto Game 7.
That's what they do.
They go to Game 7 more thananyone.
I can remember when they werefirst coming up this
(00:25):
Jokic-Murray era, they had aGame 7 against the Spurs.
They won that against theBlazers.
They happened to lose that onein the bubble.
They went to Game 7 against theJazz and the Clippers, after
both coming back from 3-1 inboth of those to win those.
And then, of course, last yearwe had the devastating loss in
Game 7 to the T-Wolves.
So of course last year we hadthe devastating loss in game
seven to the T-wolves.
So of course the Nuggets wentto game seven.
(00:47):
But they came out victoriousand I am just so happy.
It was quite the beat down andwe will definitely get into that
.
But first let's let's look backa little bit.
Since we last spoke.
I was very right and very wrongon some of my predictions for
(01:09):
what was going to happen ingames five, six and seven.
And let's start with game five.
Game five I predicted it wasgoing to be the Jamal Murray
game.
I predicted he was going tohave more than 30 points and the
Nuggets were going to win.
Well, in reality, it was theJamal Murray game and he had
more than 40 points 43 to beexact and the Nuggets did win.
(01:31):
So I will chalk that up as acorrect prediction.
Game six I predicted it wasgoing to be the Norman Powell
and Nicholas Batum game.
I predicted they were going togo for over 60 points, just
because that's what happens tothe Nuggets, these random role
players just never miss and endup destroying us in a game.
Well, it kind of was the NormanPowell and Nicholas Batum game.
(01:55):
They didn't score as much as Ithought they would.
They combined for about 30points, but I would say both
those guys were a huge factor inthe Clippers' victory.
James Harden and Kawhi Leonard,I think, led the way with
scoring, but I'll count that asa, let's say, a half win.
And then in Game 7, of course, Imade a prediction for Game 7
(02:17):
because I knew the Nuggets weregoing to Game 7, because that's
what they do.
So my prediction was it wasgoing to be a Jokic game.
He was going to hit a historicshot and the Nuggets were going
to win.
Well, jokic did not have ahistoric game.
He was actually kind of veryaverage on offense and he played
(02:38):
great defense.
I will say that he did step updefensively and it allowed the
others to have kind of a greatgame and so I'm not complaining.
The others stepped up.
The Nuggets absolutelydominated the game from really
after the first quarter.
For the rest of the game theNuggets had it in control and it
was so fun to watch and it waspretty incredible.
(03:02):
If you would have told me thatJokic would only have, I think,
14 or 16 points and not really alot of rebounds or assists, and
Jamal Murray would only scoresame thing, about 15 points, I
would have thought the Nuggetswould have lost by 20.
But the fact that RussellWestbrook, christian Brown,
(03:30):
aaron Gordon they all stepped upand were huge, it gives you
such hope of what this Nuggetsteam can be.
Russell Westbrook his numbersdon't even do justice to what
impact he had on the game.
He had 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals,
and just the energy that hebrought, I don't think there was
any way that he was going tolet them lose that game last
(03:52):
night.
We mentioned in our previousepisode that Russ played for the
Clippers last year and this wasa bit of a revenge game for him
.
I think he kind of made thatpoint when he had one of his
steals in the second half andthe Nuggets were already up by
30 and he just dunked it so hardon a breakaway steal and just
kind of hung on the rim andswung on there because he was
(04:14):
trying to get a technical,because he knew that he was
going to turn to the crowd andjust pump them up and pretty
much cuss out the entireClippers fans and bench and just
pretty much ignite ball arena.
And I loved every second.
It was so fun.
I was so happy for him.
He's had his ups and downs thisseason, but that is exactly why
(04:37):
we got Russell Westbrook andit's incredible to think that
he's doing what he's doing forus on a minimum contract.
So I loved it.
That was a Russell Westbrookmasterpiece and the fact that it
was in game seven makes it evenmore perfect.
Christian Brown he hit hugeshots.
(04:58):
He guarded James Harden.
He does all the little thingsfor us and you can just see his
growth game after game.
His shot is getting moreconfident.
He has become such a weapon onthe fast break.
He's kind of racking up theseassists now like just making
these little pocket passes orfinding the open guy on the wing
(05:19):
and it's just so fun thatobviously it was a big deal to
lose KCP.
But Christian has stepped upand been incredible and I think
he's just getting better andbetter.
And then AG Mr Nugget, what awarrior, like he still, I think,
is bothered by that calf and hedoesn't have his full
(05:39):
athleticism.
But man, he battled Kawhi lastnight and he just shut him down.
Really, kawhi is going to hithis shots because he's amazing.
But Aaron was there every stepof the way.
He was incredibly physical withthem.
He gave it right back to him onthe offensive end and AG was
amazing.
(05:59):
So those three guys on top ofJokic and Murray still
contributed a little bit, butnot nearly what I thought they
were going to, led to anabsolutely fantastic victory.
It was very nice to have a nice,easy win and not have a heart
attack at the end, although Iwill say the bench came in and
quickly gave up like a 12-0 run.
(06:21):
So we had to put the startersback in and I loved it.
Coach Alderman was not messingaround.
He put the starters back in andsaid no, just shut this down,
let's move on to round two.
And that's exactly what theydid.
And so, as I was thinking aboutthis game last night and this
morning, really there was somany reasons why that win last
(06:42):
night was huge, and so I'm goingto count down from number five
to number one of why I thoughtthat one victory was will change
so much, not only how we talkabout certain players on this
team, but also this team for thenext couple of years on what
they'll look like.
So, number five obviously weadvanced to the next round.
(07:03):
We still have a shottechnically at the championship
this year.
Now we'll talk about this in afew minutes we have to play the
thunder, but we are still aliveand have a shot, and that's all
we need.
Number four David Adelman.
If it were me, I think thisseries victory clinches the fact
that he should get a shot asthe full-time coach next year.
(07:24):
I think the players respect him.
I think he's shown that he canhandle in-game situations really
well and it's just.
He's a great change of pace andit might be exactly what this
team needs as far as he isamazing as a tactician, like.
From everything I hear fromreporters, from the players, it
really sounds like he doesamazing at preparing the players
(07:48):
, coming up with plays that willwork against specific
situations on the other team,and it seems to be working.
So I think David Adelman shouldbe our coach next year.
Not only that, I think thisseries victory this is my number
three reason I think we need tokeep the core four together.
I know that's crazy, but thisteam shows that they work so
(08:12):
well together.
They know what each other isthinking after all these years
of playing together.
If they were healthier and wehad any sort of a bench which
again thank you, calvin Boothand Michael Malone for that
disaster of just making sure wedid not but if we had any sort
of bench where these guys couldget through the regular season
(08:33):
healthy, I don't see any reasonwhy they wouldn't be a
championship contender again,and so I really think this
series showed that they deserveanother year.
But give them another year withveteran players that can eat up
some minutes in the regularseason, veteran players that can
handle a bench unit and notjust lose 12 points in two
(08:57):
minutes every time they come in.
Give them any sort of help, andI think this team can be
dangerous for hopefully thisyear, next year, years moving
forward, and so I think it washuge that I really think the
core four should stay together.
Number two I think this was hugefor the Russell Westbrook
(09:18):
legacy.
He's one of the best players tonever win a championship and,
like I said, I think the Thunderare going to make that
extremely difficult this year.
But I think this allows Russ tomaybe stay on the team next
year and, like I said, with alittle bit more well rounded of
a team next year, this teamcould be extremely dangerous and
(09:41):
I really think Jokic and Murray, they want to give Russ that
championship and kind of be thecrown jewel at the end of an
amazing career.
And number one, of course, isJokic's legacy.
It was kind of sneaky but thiswould have been a big yeah.
But when people were talkingabout the greatness of Jokic, he
(10:02):
of course was our best playerand leader last year when the
Nuggets lost to the Timberwolvesin game seven.
Now, it wasn't necessarily hisfault.
He had an amazing game.
The others kind of fell apartaround him, but he was part of
it.
He.
He got extremely tired andcouldn't keep up with, uh, carl
Anthony Towns and Nas Reed andall those big guys.
(10:23):
And if one of the greatestplayers ever were to lose two
game sevens on this home courttwo years in a row, it would
have been a tarnish on anargument to make him one of the
greatest players ever.
So obviously I'm glad they won.
But I really do think that thiskind of flips that narrative
(10:46):
completely where, even though hewasn't the greatest in this
game seven, he obviously is ourrock and was huge on defense and
the fact that we did win thatgame seven now makes the nuggets
four and two in the yokich eragame sevens and he's averaging
26, 12 and seven in those gamesand so he is obviously the main
(11:10):
catalyst to all those victoriesand even in those losses he's
had amazing games.
So I would say, just forJokic's legacy, that game was
huge last night and, like I said, who knows what's going to
happen in the next game?
It could be even bigger for hislegacy if he's able to pull off
the upset against the Thunder.
So let's talk about the Thunder.
(11:30):
I think the Thunder weresitting at home and they were
probably the Clippers' biggestfans, because I don't think they
want any part of the Nuggets.
Now I'm not saying that theyshouldn't be favored, and if you
look at some of the sportsbooks they are huge favorites
(11:51):
but I think the Nuggets are atougher matchup for the Thunder.
Now, the reason I say that isall the reasons why the Clippers
lost against the Nuggets.
Kawhi he is great in his ownway, but he does not take over
games like Jamal Murray can.
He does not take over gameslike Jokic can.
(12:11):
The Thunder.
They have some size, but theydon't have anyone like Zubac to
handle Jokic.
Jokic should have a much easiertime in the Thunder series than
in the Clippers series.
Zubac was absolutely amazing inthe Clippers series.
He played incredible defense.
Jokic was obviously gettingfrustrated and hats off to him.
(12:34):
It was one of the bestone-on-one defensive
performances against Jokic I'veever seen.
But the Thunder don't have thatand, uh, trust me, I fully admit
that this series could gohorribly, horribly wrong for the
Nuggets.
Just off the top of my head.
A, the Thunder are amazing atbasketball.
(12:56):
That's a good place to start.
The Thunder are well-rested.
They swept Memphis as fast asyou possibly could and they've
been sitting at home.
If they had any injuries, I'msure they're healthy by now.
And the Thunder are deep, theycan play their full roster and
it's all quality, qualitybasketball players.
(13:17):
The Thunder have the home courtadvantage.
That will obviously help notonly to start the series off at
home but if it does go deep,they'll have that game five and
game seven at home as well.
And the thunder, technically,if you if you follow the votes
this year have the mvp, uh, butwe, we shall see who the real
(13:38):
mvp is.
So I fully admit the thunderare the favorites and in most
scenarios the Thunder will winthis series.
But Nuggets fans, there is hope.
The Nuggets have so much moreexperience.
The Thunder are definitely ateam that is up and coming.
(13:59):
Their team is pretty much allyoung guys and while they have a
little bit of experience, it isnothing compared to what the
nuggets have been through thelast couple years.
Like I said, the game sevens,the championship run, just the
overall playoff experience, isdefinitely on the nugget side.
I think that makes a big impactin the playoffs, because
(14:20):
playoff basketball is sodifferent than the regular
season.
Uh, the thunder 68 wins in theregular season is incredible,
but it's a whole different sportin the playoffs and I don't
think they got a good taste ofthat against Memphis.
The Memphis series was prettymuch just say glorified
scrimmage.
Memphis was falling apart in somany ways and then they lost
(14:40):
jaw and it was pretty much over.
So the thunder, they they couldbe rusty.
Um, they've been sitting athome for a long time.
The nuggets are going to be.
They're they could be rusty.
They've been sitting at homefor a long time.
The Nuggets are going to be,they're going to be tired, but
they're going to be kind of inshape, on point, with all their
mental and physical just reallythe stress that they've had to
(15:03):
go through the last couple ofdays and weeks.
They are going to be ready toflip that switch a little bit
easier than the Thunder, I'mhoping.
And really the Nuggets arepeaking.
Like I said, adam took overwith three games left in the
regular season and now we'reseven games into the playoffs.
That's 10 games, and it feelslike the Nuggets have just
gotten tighter as a unit.
(15:24):
They've kind of found that joyagain.
Tighter as a unit, they've kindof found that joy again.
They really just seem likethey're finding different ways
to not only execute in the gamesbut also prepare for games, and
it's a beautiful thing becauseit's not just Jokic, it's been
more of a team effort.
Since Adelman took over,adelman's been impressive with
(15:47):
his in-game substitutionpatterns.
He's been impressive with justthe decisions that he makes as
far as how to play certaindefenses.
I've just been really impressedwith him.
We mentioned Christian Brown,has been peaking.
Peyton Watson, the last coupleof games, has even been putting
in some good minutes, so I'mhoping he gets a little bit more
time during the Thunder seriesas well.
(16:09):
And then, like I said, ourdefense.
Our defense was terrible in theregular season and I don't know
if it's just because it's theplayoffs now or if it's
something that Adelman is doing,but our defense, especially in
those last couple of gamesagainst Clippers, was pretty
incredible.
I think the play that reallydemoralized the Clippers was I
(16:32):
forget who was driving into thelane, but they had a nice little
pass to Zubac.
Zubac was going up for a dunkand Jokic just blocked him.
The Nuggets grabbed, the ball,ran out and I think Murray got a
layup on the other end.
I think that just goes to showyou that Jokic, with his quick
hands, his basketball IQ andthen you even get plays like
(16:52):
that with his, his athleticismhe can play some defense on the
backend and it's making a big,big difference for the nuggets.
So I mentioned that Zubachplayed amazing against Jokic and
the thunder.
While they are long, they arenot big.
Chet Holmgren is seven feettall and extremely skinny, but
(17:14):
he's an amazing shot blocker.
So they brought in IsaiahHartenstein to give them a
little bit more size, a littlebit more beef and then hopefully
have Chet kind of roamingaround to be able to block
Jokic's shot when the Nuggetsare on offense.
And so this theory of defensehas technically worked for both
(17:34):
Minnesota and the Lakers in thelast couple of years.
But Jokic he does figure it out,and I'm really interested to
see, just with this combination,how it's going to work in the
playoffs for the Thunder, justto see if Jokic is able to kind
of slice right through it andthey have to try something else,
or if it's a somewhat impactful.
(17:55):
And so I think that's gonna beone of the big keys to the
series.
And then my biggest reason forhope is we have Nicole Jokic and
Jamal Murray.
I think nobody rises to themoment bigger than those guys,
and the fact that we were ableto win this last series with
(18:16):
each of them, um, I would sayeach had one fantastic game and
in the other games they werepretty much themselves, like it
wasn't as if they had incredibleperformances all across the
board.
And so if we do get a serieswhere each of them steps up and
has two, three incredibleperformances, then I think the
Nuggets have a shot.
(18:37):
Like I said, I think it's goingto be extremely tough.
The Thunder are a great team,but my prediction, as I
mentioned at the very beginning,the Nuggets don't know how to
do anything but play seven gameseries.
So this series is going sevenand, even though it's in
Oklahoma City, the Nuggets willwin in seven and move to the
(18:59):
Western Conference Finals.
Thank you so much everyone.
We will have a podcast againlater this week to talk about
the first couple games of theOklahoma City Thunder series,
and I am so excited for it.
Go Nuggets.
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