Nuggets (28-14) at Celtics (32-9) Game #42 1/19/24

[Silas]

Joker played he whole quarter.

He averages 33min/game.

[jpotter33]

Jokic hitting some really tough shots right now.

But I like how we're playing. Make him work on both sides of the ball all night long, and he'll tire by the second half. And he won't keep hitting these difficult shots all night long. Need to keep putting him in every defensive action. He's just too slow to recover off the hedge, leaving plenty of opportunity for the open shot or the pass to the next open man.

He looked.like he was sucking wind already

Yep. I've always thought that was the best strategy against Jokic. Make him beat you individually and don't overly double him, which allows him to get others involved. He can't keep up this pace and amount of work all game and continue to hit these shots at that size, especially if we keep targeting him defensively on the other end.

I imagine we see a pretty big dip in Denver's performance as soon as he sits, as he's the only thing keeping them afloat right now.

[liam]

Both teams taking care of business...each team with only 1 turnover.

If this is a finals preview then sign me up!

[Phantom255x]

LET'S GO CELTICS! (Clap, Clap, Clap-Clap-Clap!)

Been pumped for this game all day. We better be ready, because I think we'll see Denver's best shot. But I'm betting we'll be ready and locked in against the champs. We can send a big message tonight with a convincing win.

I'm also super interested to see how KP and Jokic matchup. KP has the range and willingness to fire from distance to give Jokic some fits, but I'd also put Jokic in every PnR and make him defend and exploit him on the switches.

There's a decent chance IF we make the Finals, we're gonna have to go through not just Embiid/Giannis/Bam, but someone like AD/Jokic/Gobert/KAT/Chet.

As good as Timelord was defensively, he was extremely limited offensively and teams like Miami exposed this. Horford is underrated and good in his role but he's just not an elite scorer.

It's why I think Porzingis is an awesome addition and something I really pay attention to in these matchups. Like even the recent Lakers game, yeah AD put up 40/10+, but KP had 28/11 and neutralized AD's impact on the game. Jokic can put up 30/10 today but if KP puts up nearly the same, it negates the impact and the Jays are usually better than most other guard/wing duos.

Like I said^, Jokic felt like a beast that quarter but the C's are still up 1 with KP matching him in points as well. That's an element we have not had in a long time since the KG days

[RJ87]

Jokic hitting some really tough shots right now.

But I like how we're playing. Make him work on both sides of the ball all night long, and he'll tire by the second half. And he won't keep hitting these difficult shots all night long. Need to keep putting him in every defensive action. He's just too slow to recover off the hedge, leaving plenty of opportunity for the open shot or the pass to the next open man.

He looked.like he was sucking wind already

Eh. He's plays in Denver's altitude most of the year. I suspect his stamina is better than it looks.

[jpotter33]

JT is LOCKED in!

Don't really have the numbers to back this up off-hand, but I think you can tell JT has started his annual "ramp up" from his slower start to the season to being at his peak self that you usually see mid-way through the end of the season. His free throw rate and percentage lately definitely at least seem to support this.

[blink]

Tatum really mixing up drives and jumpshots tonight
he is unpredictable tonight, and that is awesome

[Phantom255x]

6-0 Tatum run!

[Phantom255x]

Definitely feels like a playoff atmosphere. Denver also seems to be playing their "playoff rotations"

[blink]

Great pass from Luke!!!

[celticinorlando]

Good job Boston losing the Jokic on the bench minutes

[Phantom255x]

Yikes, losing the non-Jokic minutes is not good.

[blink]

Why are we playing PP on Murray?
I would move Jrue to Murray while he is initiating everything

[Silas]

Murray is a handful.

[jpotter33]

Bad shots by Jrue and Tatum consecutively.

But the shot quality discrepancy is pretty stark. Feels like we're getting a ton of quality looks, where it feels like they're being contested on virtually every shot and hitting some tough ones. Hopefully that balances out with them not hitting those all game long.