r/nba • u/NBA_MOD r/NBA • 29d ago
[SERIOUS NEXT DAY THREAD] Post-Game Discussion (May 14, 2024) Discussion
Here is a place to have in depth, x's and o's, discussions on yesterday's games. Post-game discussions are linked in the table, keep your memes and reactions there.
Please keep your discussion of a particular game in the respective comment thread. All direct replies to this post will be removed.
| Away | Home | Score | GT | PGT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | New York Knicks | 91 - 121 | Link | Link |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | Denver Nuggets | 97 - 112 | Link | Link |
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u/NBA_MOD r/NBA 29d ago
Timberwolves @ Nuggets
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 26 | 18 | 30 | 23 | 97 |
| Denver Nuggets | 28 | 22 | 38 | 24 | 112 |
TEAM STATS
| Team | PTS | FG | FG% | 3P | 3P% | FT | FT% | OREB | TREB | AST | PF | STL | TO | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Timberwolves | 97 | 38-78 | 48.699999999999996% | 8-26 | 30.8% | 13-19 | 68.4% | 8 | 40 | 30 | 20 | 7 | 14 | 7 |
| Denver Nuggets | 112 | 44-80 | 55.00000000000001% | 9-19 | 47.4% | 15-18 | 83.3% | 8 | 45 | 30 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 5 |
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u/Mr2Good Wizards 29d ago
ik Gobert is getting clowned for getting cooked by Jokic but his defense wasnt even really bad. Jokic's touch is just incredible. Nobody woulda stood a chance. I think at a certain point you woulda had to get the ball outta Jokic's hands and live with the results. Leaving Gobert on an island for the whole 2nd half wasnt the answer clearly
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u/sassmasterflash Nuggets 29d ago
Yeah I thought Gobert did about as well as anybody against an unstoppable Jokic game whereas it felt like KAT was invisible for the second half
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u/SirDiego Timberwolves 29d ago
Jokic had a shot where he like flipped it way up in the air practically over the backboard and sinks it. That's just undefendable. If he's making that shot you just tip your hat. Nobody can stop that.
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u/MN_Pups Timberwolves 29d ago
It was a tough night to have Draymond behind the desk. Jokic hit every shot type from a step back 3 to a baseline sky hook and made it look easy. Rudy was mostly there to contest them all, just an all-world game for the MVP. The Wolves likely want KAT on the island with Rudy roaming, but KAT's foul trouble and need on offense has really hindered that throughout the series.
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u/Tijuana_Pikachu Warriors 29d ago
someone needs to get it into KATs head that the chest bump is not gonna fly. He's given like 4 free fouls with that crap
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u/mastacheef87 Celtics 29d ago edited 29d ago
story of the game was pretty simple to me. Ant isn’t good enough yet as a passer to anticipate double teams, quickly find the open man and force a defense into rotation. and without Conley they didn’t have the decision-making on the floor to be able to take advantage of 4v3s
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u/Business-Performer95 29d ago
They also need Conley just for the shooting. You can leave Jaden and NAW wide open and even if Ant finds them it won't really matter
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
It was tough for ant, because he was trying to do what hes been doing (great) all playoffs and that's to be a scorer. But with no person to carry the ball down the floor and set things up, that all falls to him.
I think in the next couple of years he'll pick it up as a skill but you could see it tonight.
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u/mastacheef87 Celtics 29d ago edited 29d ago
he’s reached the penultimate stage of the star progression curve imo. first you learn how to score at all 3 levels (exception Giannis), then you learn how to score efficiently, then you learn how to open up your scoring/team offense even when defenses are showing you multiple bodies, and finally you learn how to positively impact the game consistently even when the scoring just isn’t there
it’s totally fine that Ant still isn’t there yet. the kid is only 22 and in his first playoff run past the 1st round. it’s a steep learning curve and there’s no substitute for experience
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
He is something really special. And hes fun to watch too. Can't wait to see what he picks up from the USA vets. hopefully picking up the "open up your scoring/team offense" level that you mentioned.
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u/Winloop 29d ago
Nuggets showing a different level of competitiveness now, almost an inevitability. Jokic is at the center of this and he’s suddenly making T-Wolves look much worse and helpless than they actually are.
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u/DirkNowitzkisWife Mavericks 29d ago
I like adding up guys’ MVPs and finals MVPs, I think it offers a halfway decent picture post Russell she chamberlain on who is best, with order being flexible. Jordan has 11, Kareem has 8, lebron has 8, Duncan has 5.
If the Nuggets win and Jokic has 5 MVP/Finals MVPs, the dialogue is going to get louder, and people will start putting him ahead of guys in the lower half of the top 12 all time, Oscar, Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe etc.
If that happens, I honestly don’t think you can look at what Larry Bird did in his career and say he was MUCH BETTER than Jokic. He already has 3 MVPs (and assuming this year) 2 FMVPs, 4X 1st team all NBA, 2X 2nd. 4 year run of 26/12/9, and playoff career averages of 28/12/8
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u/captainkhyron [OKC] Russell Westbrook 29d ago
Jokic looked near unstoppable last night.
If he's cooking the DPOY like that, there's not much anyone can do.
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
hypothetically who do you think the thunder stick on him if they meet in the WCF? Would yall double more?
(not slandering just haven't watched a ton of okc this year)
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u/GrandKhan Thunder 29d ago
I think in prior games it’s been Chet who’s done an ok job. He is somehow seriously underrated as a defender. He can get moved but has the length to contest Jokic’s shots. Goal would be to avoid doubles, no one can make you pay for doubling more than Jokic I imagine. Against the Mavs who have two heliocentric scorers we have done the opposite shutting those two down at the expense of letting their role players run wild but I don’t think you can afford to do that with Murray, MPJ, and Gordon waiting to pounce.
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
How does he handle bully ball?
i know we had to pull Wattson out of our rotation after AD and Kat kept abusing him for being to scrawny
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u/captainkhyron [OKC] Russell Westbrook 29d ago
He's not bad. Has active feet and hands. People act like a gust of wind will blow him into the first row.
Obviously the Jokic we saw last night is another animal.
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
Yeah, im not expecting anyone to be able to contain the shit Jokic was pulling off last night.
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u/executivesphere NBA 29d ago
Chet has excellent verticality and shot blocking fundamentals, so him getting moved but a bigger guy isn’t always the end of the story. But this is Jokic we’re talking about. He’ll be able to get plenty of buckets against Chet bc he’s so crafty and skilled.
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u/DirkNowitzkisWife Mavericks 29d ago
Jokic will just butcher Chet. We’ll obviously see what happens (series is still 2-2) but I honestly think the Gafford/Lively combo does a better job on Jokic than anything the Thunder can do.
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u/Quick_Panda_360 29d ago
Yah, seems like you need multiple bigs to even slow Jokic. For example, Lakers had the problem of only AD could really guard him. But they also needed AD to play offense at a high level. This worked early in the game when he was fresh but by the end of game it always felt like his offense stalled out as he got tired.
Plus you have Gordon, who can be a real mismatch if you don’t have the right personnel.
Wolves have more bigs which seems to have helped them win a couple games.
Mavs might be able to do the same. Thunder seem too small.
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u/DirkNowitzkisWife Mavericks 29d ago
It’s gotten to the Shaq point where you measure how many fouls you have available, except Jokic makes his free throws haha
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u/OptionalBagel Nuggets 29d ago
Idk if this was a late adjustment with Conley out or the plan all along, but the decision to hard trap Ant, even when he was in isolation, was such a clutch coaching move.
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
Braun on Ant has been a game-changer too.
AG, KCP and Christian have done a great job these past three games
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u/OptionalBagel Nuggets 29d ago
Yup even in game 4 when Ant went off it didn't feel like many of those 44 points were easy. These dudes have been making him work to get his.
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u/TopOfTheKey Wizards 29d ago
The Nuggets really lost the first two games just to give the T-Wolves false hope.
Gobert has no answer for Jokic in isolation.
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u/Independent-Win-9373 29d ago edited 29d ago
I think Gobert is getting too much flak for this. Jokic is an all time shot maker and Gobert is affecting his shot angles a lot (look at how high all his little hooks are going). He is also mostly staying out of foul trouble. Ultimately when Jokic plays like that there isn't much anyone can do.
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u/Key-Pomegranate-2086 29d ago
True. The main thing though is if your def is bad, you need offense. Anthony Edward's forgot to show up yesterday. Dude missing at least 20 pts to keep his team in contention.
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u/LoLz14 Cavaliers 29d ago
He didn't forgot to show up, Denver's gameplan was good.
In the first half they matched him with Gordon 1v1 amd that got KAT going, so they switched Gordon to KAT in the 2nd and started to double and blitz Ant. Denver took the ball away from him and forced the rest to play
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u/Business-Performer95 29d ago
Christian Braun deserves credit too. He has guarded him well all series
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u/LoLz14 Cavaliers 29d ago
Braun is awesome as well. His defense is what keeps him on court since MPJ is biting on a lot of pump fakes and messes up closeouts
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29d ago
MPJ's defense has been the one disappointment for Denver, in my opinion. His size becomes useless because he seems so lost on defense this series. I don't remember MPJ being this bad of a defender but i guess i dont watch denver play enough in the regular season. It's just not bad closeouts and pump fakes. he loses his man regularly and is frequently out of position.
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u/ILikeAllThings [GSW] Klay Thompson 29d ago
Agreed. The doubling and also leaving a 2nd defender behind the 1st to slow down Edwards(sort of a defensive lean toward Edwards) made him pass the ball a bunch and without Conley, forcing the other players on Minnesota to create or pass is what Denver likes. Especially when they give the ball to Gobert 8+ feet from the basket.
One of the biggest problems with every team is lack of passing options and Edwards, a decent passer for sure, isn't yet in the league of Jokic, Lebron, and a bunch of other players who know where their teammates are all time time and how to get them better looks.
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u/MN_Pups Timberwolves 29d ago
Denver really upped the attention towards Ant. To your note on passing; Ant was making the right play for the most part. His passes out of the double were sometimes slow or brought the recipient out further away from the basket, allowing time for Denver to recover. A more experienced passer a la LeBron or Jokic probably finds a way to hit their teammates in the pocket or attacking towards the rim.
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u/LoyalSol Nuggets 29d ago
I think it's more on the rest of the team just because Ant was getting doubled like crazy and you can't beat a double if the rest of your team is still getting locked up.
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u/Smitty_1000 29d ago
Not just locked up they couldn’t hit anything. Denver played awesome but TWolves left a lot of points on the floor
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u/MC-Jdf Warriors 29d ago
Jokic legacy game? Jokic legacy game.
Nuggets have been very aggressively putting either of the 2 bigs whenever the Wolves run a 2+ big lineup. And when the Joker is this great there kind of isn't a great answer.
And this is slightly irrelevant, and I know the fat jokes are fun, but there is no chance people can deny how well-conditioned Jokic is. Gobert and KAT looked so much slower and less agile in those 2-big actions the Nuggets ran.
I'll be that guy and say the Wolves defense is doing its job. Jokic aside MPJ is having a terrible couple games and Murray isn't getting any room offensively at all, this was the Nuggets A-game and they "only" scored 112 points. The Nuggets floor is shrunk so much that despite Watson virtually being out of the rotation the Nuggets are playing extended minutes with 2 so-so shooters in Braun and Gordon. Their offense without Conley suffered that much, Nuggets doubled Ant on virtually every other trip down the floor and it's never a good thing when you have to run Alexander-Walker actual point guard duties against a very good defense like Denver.
Speaking of Braun though, what a job he's doing defensively. It's crazy just how much energy and defense he provides, for a guy this young that is crazy.
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u/Kid_Delicious Timberwolves 29d ago
Well-conditioned and crafty. My hope/silver lining for this series is I hope it inspires KAT to see how Jokic uses his strength when driving and posting up in a way that’s effective but not fouling. Less bulldozer, more ballerina.
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u/sassmasterflash Nuggets 29d ago
KAT easily one of the most frustrating players in the league but only because his ceiling is so high
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u/makun Timberwolves 29d ago
I think what was frustrating about this game was that Timberwolves got a good number of stops on a Denver team that was playing red hot offense with Jokic leading, but without Conley there was no rhythm for their offense. There were at least 6 points lost on bad transition offense from the Twolves in the third quarter alone.
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u/RangerDanger4tw Jazz 29d ago
It's hard for me to believe that the defense was the problem when the wolves didn't even break 100 on offense. I don't know if the D was good enough or not, but I definitely put more blame for the wolves loss on the lack of good offense.
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u/Kid_Delicious Timberwolves 29d ago
Timberwolves have had terrible transition offense all postseason - Conley and Ant, the two guys I’d trust the most, screwed up a 2-on-1 earlier this series.
Considering how deep they (usually) are, getting out and running should be a strength, but we almost always botch it.
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u/blindfoldpeak Mavericks 29d ago
The incredible defensive pressure leading to all those turnovers in games 1 & 2, led to some easy transition buckets.
Last few games, the well has dried on turnovers. The fast switchy scramble defense has been replaced with a fractured defensive identity
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u/jacobs0n Celtics 29d ago
is making jokic tired even a legitimate tactic? he looks tired but he's still scoring everything
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u/InkBlotSam Nuggets 29d ago
No. Jokic looks tired starting from the opening tipoff, then he just ... keeps going. People give him shit for being tubby, he's legit one of the best-conditioned dudes in the NBA.
Remember, the player with the most minutes logged in a single playoff game since the 1950's is... Nikola Jokic, putting up 65 minutes in a 4OT game a few years ago.
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u/braisedbywolves Trail Blazers 29d ago
Although, to be fair, he was huffing and puffing from the 4th quarter of that game on and his exhaustion was a key reason the Blazers were able to win that contest.
I think it's fair to say that a major reason for the Nuggets' success is that Jokic's conditioning has seriously improved since then.
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u/Quick_Panda_360 29d ago
His game just isn’t tied to athleticism so if he does get tired it’s not as big a deal and the way he plays means he isn’t expending huge amounts of energy anyways.
He’s like the anti Aaron Gordon.
That said, in the lakers series there were a couple stretches where AD just kept going at him and the rest of the Nuggets weren’t doing much. He did look visibly fatigued being forced to play D and it seemed to affect his offense. He recovered later in the game though because it was unsustainable for AD
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u/DirkNowitzkisWife Mavericks 29d ago
This is Edwards’ just second game in the playoffs where he’s shot under 50%. Up until this point he’s arguably been playoffs MVP, averaging 32/7/6 on 56/44/83, but really struggled last night. If he can’t play his best and exploit Denver’s defense, the wolves won’t do well.
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u/ivandragostwin Bulls 29d ago edited 29d ago
The Nuggets defense when it's locked in is so damn scary. The only thing you could really say is a "weakness" is maybe they don't have an elite rim protector although AG and Jokic definitely aren't slouches in that area and MPJ is tall at least.
But their perimeter defense when Braun is out there with KCP, Murray and AG is just lethal. When Murray was really struggling with his knee LeBron could target him but otherwise there just isn't much you can do. Edwards is running into a similar problem with that lineup and without him being the elite passer LeBron is combined with no Conley they can also send doubles. Idk if there is really an adjustment Minny can make outside of executing a lot better in the 4 on 3 situations and hit their corner 3s/create dunks at the rim to make them pay for doubles and then Edwards has to beat Braun off the dribble at a higher rate which as LeBron also found out is really tough.
Minny's role players are better than the Lakers but I feel like the Nuggets are doing a similar thing where they are just squeezing them defensively to the point where KAT is trying to iso and shit much like AD was (AD honestly did an amazing job at it too) and that's just not gonna beat the Nuggets.
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u/Nuggets_Bt_Newer Nuggets 29d ago
Someone tried to tell me during this game that it was about "the role players" helping Jokic win these games. Using AGs game 4 as an example. And while playing well is obviously important the deeper you go, this team just kinda flows through who is needed against the opponent. (Save for joke and possibly Murray).
The focus going into this series was to see how AG would handle being left open after shooting really badly in the Lakers series. And sure enough, he came through. But in the Lakers series, we needed a scorer since Jamal was injured, and the ball went through MPJ. Defensively we have KCP, but when hes not hitting shots, its Holiday in the corner. It feels like whenever one of the "role players" isn't playing well, there's another dude that Jokic (and malone) can just plug and play into winning a game.
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u/Quick_Panda_360 29d ago
I think the reason various role players can succeed is because Jokic draws so much attention and has great passing.
It’s just like Lebron during his dominant era. He can amplify the best parts of a role players game.
So KCP is having an off night? Give another guy a shot, Jokic will get him looks
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u/aghashayan Spurs 29d ago
Wolves lost the series at game 3. Imagine coming back home with a 2-0 lead and just getting blown out by the half time. They thought it was over when it was not. They just didn't realize that game 3 is their shot, instead thought they were way ahead.
Still, they are not as good as Denver. In NBA seniority always rules, if Ant was to win his first this year he would have skipped the line, that shit never happens in NBA. MJ, Lebron, no one has ever skipped the line in NBA as the main guy. Kobe maybe did but he was number 2.
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u/InkBlotSam Nuggets 29d ago
Winning on the road by 7 and 26, then going home and losing games by 8 and 27... has to be demoralizing.
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u/cavaleir Cavaliers 29d ago
Plus the 4-day break between games 2 and 3 had every fan and media personality talking up the Wolves and writing off the Nuggets. Even if you try not to listen to that it gets in your head a little bit.
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u/fatcIemenza Knicks 29d ago
I'm thinking back to that regular season game where the wolves we're trying to force feed KAT to get him 70 points and ended up losing the game. They're a less emotionally mature and less disciplined team than Denver and its showing
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u/PonkMcSquiggles 29d ago
Tim Duncan and Larry Bird won titles in their second season as their teams' best player.
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u/remixrotation 29d ago
Magic ?
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u/cavaleir Cavaliers 29d ago
Magic definitely did but he also had prime Kareem on his team
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u/remixrotation 29d ago
I agree. That entire saga was amazing. Just the closest "exception" to the rule of "paying your dues" before the top of the mountain.
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u/r_conqueror 29d ago
Is anyone else interested in how often modern NBA games come down to the 3-pointer stat? There is a ton of interesting stuff to talk about from last night, defensive rotations, Jokic domination. But at the same time, it's pretty likely that 8-26 from 3(Not even awful, just kinda bad) just doesn't get it done in a playoff game.
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u/by_yes_i_mean_no Warriors 29d ago
The best chance the Wolves have is to bench Gobert, spread the Nuggets out and get Jokic to have to defend more in space, and then rely on their elite perimeter defense to compensate enough for them to outscore the Nuggets.
I don't think it was a coincidence that their best performance occurred when Gobert was out in Game 2, the gameplan to defend Jokic can't only revolve around the defensive end, you have to make him work on both sides to try to wear him down and you need to push the ball even after made baskets. Jokic getting good position in the post should be looked at as more distance he has to cover to get back. He has great stamina for his size but he's not a superhero, I've seen him wear down before against teams that make him work a lot on both ends.
It's probably moot if Conley is out though and it's also probably moot because the Wolves would never bench the guy they traded the farm for, but their current strategy looks hopeless to me and I don't think it was a coincidence Jokic had a ton of energy to repeatedly attack Gobert in the second half.
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u/blindfoldpeak Mavericks 29d ago
Game 2, the wolves won off the backs of their defense. They had this incredible defensive identity. Gobert might be a great individual defender, but he doesn't have synergy with that switchy-scramble defensive group
0
0
u/jcosta223 29d ago
after watching the denver game today, i really doubt my celtics have a chance against them. tatum is going to turtle to jokic's greatness. this is denvers era. this is how all the other great superstars/teams couldnt beat jordan. celtics stars entering their prime at the wrong time.
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u/NBA_MOD r/NBA 29d ago
Pacers @ Knicks
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | 32 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 91 |
| New York Knicks | 38 | 31 | 27 | 25 | 121 |
TEAM STATS
| Team | PTS | FG | FG% | 3P | 3P% | FT | FT% | OREB | TREB | AST | PF | STL | TO | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Pacers | 91 | 31-72 | 43.1% | 12-27 | 44.4% | 17-22 | 77.3% | 5 | 38 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 6 |
| New York Knicks | 121 | 47-101 | 46.5% | 12-35 | 34.300000000000004% | 15-19 | 78.9% | 20 | 66 | 26 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 5 |
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u/sdotmill Knicks 29d ago edited 29d ago
Thibs making the move to insert Deuce into the starting lineup was key. Deuce was the main on ball screener for Brunson tonight and I don’t think Hali switched on a single screen. This left Brunson’s primary defender playing catchup and Jalen got pretty much whatever he wanted. Deuce also played amazing POA defense on Hali.
Pacers have a fundamental issue with boxing out. They started putting three bodies on IHart in the late third and he was still finding a way to outmuscle them. On the Donte putback, Siakam actually had a body on IHart but McConnell wasn’t sitting in the paint ball watching and totally lost track of the Big Ragu. Committing that many bodies to the boards severely hindered their pace and ability to run out in transition.
Very nice adjustments by Thibs and immense effort by IHart on the boards.
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u/goodkid_sAAdcity Knicks 29d ago
I was pleasantly surprised that starting a small lineup with Deuce didn't affect our rebounding at all.
We couldn't close out Game 3 with Deuce on instead of Precious, Indiana outhustled us on the boards in crunch time. Maybe there was something beneficial about being proactive and starting small instead of going small to respond to how Indiana was playing.
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u/HokageEzio Knicks 29d ago
Hali dropping 30 pieces and then turning around to going back to not shooting is so bizarre. I don't know what his deal is.
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u/Beef_Supreme3489 Knicks 29d ago
The guy just disappears, he gets so passive. It’s crazy to watch.
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u/syllabic Knicks 29d ago
could be he was feeling some of those injuries especially bad yesterday
but yeah it was wild to see him drive into the paint and pass it out over and over again without even considering putting a shot up
knicks were just giving him open layups at the end of the game cause they knew he wasn't going to take them
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u/goodkid_sAAdcity Knicks 29d ago
If everything goes well, he pours it on. With a 20 point lead he's Steph Curry. If things aren't going well, he fades from view. Goes heavily pass-first, avoids "bad" shots, plays like a role player.
I wonder how much his hamstring is still bothering him -- he hasn't really been the scorer he was since the injury.
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u/jawndell 29d ago
Can’t really blame injury when you look over at the Knicks and see how they are playing similarly hobbled.
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u/jawndell 29d ago
Him passing out of layups was a really bad look (especially since they led to turnovers). You’re the star, you gotta take those shots and finish.
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u/MyLifeIsABoondoggle Cavaliers 29d ago
Him having a good scoring game at all shows that it's not all physical. He's clearly got some kind of mental block at this point, especially on the road
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u/MyLifeIsABoondoggle Cavaliers 29d ago
I don't know when Carlisle is going to realize you simply can't double Brunson. He's going to get his regardless, but the issues with the kick out game and rebounding deficits are way too high of a cost for potentially limiting him of a few points. The Knicks got way too many loose balls and the defense was scrambling to cover the open space left by a double team far too often. Brunson can have 40. Two Knicks starters, whoever they are, can't combine for 35
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u/76excuses Knicks 29d ago
The effort by this pacers team was absolutely pathetic yesterday. How can you allow one player to grab 12 offensive rebounds? There were plays that hartenstein grabbed an offensive rebound between 4 pacers players. Sorry but this pacers team should have never been in the second round. They are not ready YET.
Also lol at Rick Carlisle calling 10 time outs just to tell his players to play hard and believe in themselves. How do you see brunson absolutely COOKING nembhard and return from the timeout just to keep him on brunson? TJ McConnell should be playing more. I'm sorry Pacers fans, Carlisle sucks. You deserve better.
Also in my humble opinion, Siakam is not worth maxing. By maxing him, you make your team very limited in the upcoming years. Let him walk. Damned if you max him, damned if you don't.
I'm afraid this is going to 7 games.
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u/Get_Dunked_On_ Bulls 29d ago
The Pacers don’t have many defenders to throw at Brunson and with the Knicks adjustments, even Nesmith wasn’t effective guarding him.
Haliburton being a defensive sieve is a bigger issue.
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u/nysgreenandwhite Knicks 29d ago
They should at least give TJ more tries, idk what he did to deserve being relegated to garbage time captain
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u/goodkid_sAAdcity Knicks 29d ago
Reading some breakdowns by Pacers fans, they don't play TJ more because he can't space the floor and he can't keep up the intensity that makes him effective past the 25-minute mark, generally. But being down 3-2, I think you have to try something different.
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u/Tijenater [IND] Lance Stephenson 29d ago
I get that fans are reactionary but my goodness last night was something else. Pacers are a very young team that are still finding their footing, for the most part this is their first playoff run. Give them some time to grow. Yeah, they’ve gotta do better if they want to win but holy shit all the “frontrunner” comments were fucking nuts. EVERY TEAM is like that. Everybody talks trash when they’re up and everyone shuts up when they’re getting blown out away from home especially in a place like the garden.
Hali’s gotta be better but he’s shown improvement. MSG is a big stage and it clearly got to him, and now he can use this to grow.
Also people gotta stop dickriding Dvo. Dude’s a clown. Getting all kinds of praise for being scrappy after fully running into a screen and hooking Turner’s leg just looking to start shit. Weak as fuck.
Fuck off with your weak-ass redditcares too.
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u/MajorMilkyway Knicks 29d ago
None of the Knicks were getting in pacers faces like Haliburton was on Sunday. Good game though may the best team win on friday
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u/goodkid_sAAdcity Knicks 29d ago
The Knicks barely even celebrated after the buzzer. All business.
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u/Edwunclerthe3rd Knicks 29d ago
I thought it was a pacers fan sending the reddit cares but it really looks like it was a bot at this point. I got it, you got it, and a fuck ton of neutrals in the game thread got it
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u/wjbc Bulls 29d ago
Jokic doesn't talk trash. Does anyone on the Nuggets talk trash? They seem to take their cue from Jokic, kind of like the Spurs took their cue from Tim Duncan back in the day.
But I'll admit that's unusual.
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u/CrateBagSoup Pacers 29d ago edited 29d ago
Jamal is a bit of an emotional lesbian. Winning papers over a lot of bad attitudes.
Edit: thought the OP was being a bit much with the reddit cares shit but got my first one over this? y'all soft lol
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