If Denver wants to repeat, Jokic has to step up...

[Hello Brooklyn]

Its literally one game.

If Anthony Edwards keeps putting up 40 points, then yes the Nuggets will be in serious trouble.

[Gatorade Sax]

Agree 100%. He was quite poor today (for his standards).

Murray has been poor aside from a few glimpses..MPJ has basically been their best 2nd option.

Was only 1 game today, but the length of Gobert certainly bothered them, particularly that pet play of the lob to Gordon when Jokic is coming down the lane. Only watched the 2nd half, but saw him break up that play multiple times.

[sp6r=underrated]

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

In fairness 32/8/9 is like 27/6/7 in 2012 and Lebron would get ripped for those games all the time.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if Jokic had Wade and Bosh instead of Murray and Gordon, Denver probably wins tonight.

I don't disagree. I'm just saying GOAT caliber players are held to much higher standards.

[BigGargamel]

Jokic has to carry. No other way. Murray, MPJ, Gordon are way too inconsistent to count on. He’ll have to start dropping 40 pieces or else it’ll be peace out Denver pretty fast.

I get your point but you can't call MPJ inconsistent during these playoffs at all. He's routinely been a life saver.

[Handlez]

Definitely wasn't the Jokic we're used to.

Minny is great defensively.

[Raps in 4]

He had a bad game. It happens.

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

8 assists isn’t good with 8 turnovers. 32 points isn’t really impressive on the efficiency. It’s just not a good game buy any superstar standards. It’s not some Jokic thing.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

32 points on 56% TS is perfectly fine efficiency.

Does he need to play better? Yeah, he does. Murray has been terrible these playoffs. Jokic will need to carry more of the offensive load as a result.

[BruttoNostra]

Could he play better? Of course.
Why it didn't happen in Game 1? Give some credit to Gobert and Co.

[Harry Garris]

He had a bad game. It happens.

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

In fairness 32/8/9 is like 27/6/7 in 2012 and Lebron would get ripped for those games all the time.

Yeah, but only because he was the best player in the league.

The dude who’s the best player gets held to the highest standard. Plenty of superstar players have had bad playoff games (Ant was terrible in game 2 vs the Suns for example) and don’t see hardly any criticism. There’s this unique space that probably only the single best player occupies where if you’re not absolutely awesome every single game you’re gonna face criticism.

[TinmanZBoy]

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

In fairness 32/8/9 is like 27/6/7 in 2012 and Lebron would get ripped for those games all the time.

Yeah, but only because he was the best player in the league.

The dude who’s the best player gets held to the highest standard. Plenty of superstar players have had bad playoff games (Ant was terrible in game 2 vs the Suns for example) and don’t see hardly any criticism. There’s this unique space that probably only the single best player occupies where if you’re not absolutely awesome every single game you’re gonna face criticism.

Exactly he is considered unquestionably the best player right now… so he needs to step up… he has been playing like wanting Jamal carrying him and the team… can’t do that in this playoff with Jamal hobbling into the playoff

[Special_Puppy]

He had a bad game. It happens.

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

It wasn't a bad game, but it wasn't a superstar type of game that he needs to win the series

[Impuniti]

He had a bad game. It happens.

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

It's not a bad game, but he's a revolving door defensively which for a center is awful and had 7 TOs.

[tsherkin]

32 points on 56% TS is perfectly fine efficiency.

10 years ago, sure.

Playoff average TS% so far has been 56.1%, so you're saying that average efficiency is "perfectly fine efficiency," which is obviously inaccurate as the primary volume scorer for a team. The team around him needed to step up, but you're talking about 65.0% TS guy in the RS.

It's fine to have an off-night, but it's also fine to acknowledge an off-night instead of trying to make it seem better than it was. He was struggling a bit trying to prop the team up while others around him did poorly. He is far from the only star to do so. Even the much-venerated Jordan had many, many nights like this against teams with cohesive defensive plans, particularly when he wasn't on the deepest and best of his title squads. Same same Lebron, and Kobe, and Shaq and what-not. Everyone has a night like this, but it is a disservice not to acknowledge when it happens.

[dhsilv2]

Dude has been underwhelmingly passive out of gate in every damn game so far in this playoff... you are the MVP, you need to be aggressive to set the tone... Denver has been trailing at the beginning of every game

Dude is having one of the best playoff years in NBA history...

Are you saying he needs to shoot like some low level scoring first guy?

[dhsilv2]

He had a bad game. It happens.

It’s crazy that 32/8/9 is a bad game, but yeah I guess by his standards it was.

8 assists isn’t good with 8 turnovers. 32 points isn’t really impressive on the efficiency. It’s just not a good game buy any superstar standards. It’s not some Jokic thing.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

It's not a great game...but yeah that is a good game.

[PeeDee]

Could he play better? Of course.
Why it didn't happen in Game 1? Give some credit to Gobert and Co.

Silly. The Timberwolves don't beat other teams. They are just suspiciously there when teams lose.

[dhsilv2]

Hard to start fast if your #2 option has 0 points in the first half

that's exactly why Joker needs to step up, Jamal may not make shots, but he is never lack of aggression... Joker only starts to be more aggressive when Denver was already down big... he needs to do it early

Jokic had 14 shots in the first half. How in the hell was he not aggressive? And the team was up at half and up when he was on the court.

[The High Cyde]

Very interested to see how the Nuggets and Jokic respond in game 2 tonight, can’t wait. I can almost guarantee Jokic will have a better game. Murray too, but that bench is a problem.

[dhsilv2]

This may sound cliche but whichever team has the best player for the majority of the nights will win the game. This will typically be Ant vs Jokic and Ant was the best player tonight.

I also agree that Jokic will need to go to another gear to beat this Wolves team. I initially wasn't sure how serious the Wolves were as contenders but after game 1 I'm a believer now.

Gobert was the best player in game 1.

[dhsilv2]

Its literally one game.

If Anthony Edwards keeps putting up 40 points, then yes the Nuggets will be in serious trouble.

Nah that's not really the issue. The issue was they didn't have a counter to Gobert. Gobert just put on a master class in that game and the nuggets had no counter to him.

[dhsilv2]

32 points on 56% TS is perfectly fine efficiency.

10 years ago, sure.

Playoff average TS% so far has been 56.1%, so you're saying that average efficiency is "perfectly fine efficiency," which is obviously inaccurate as the primary volume scorer for a team. The team around him needed to step up, but you're talking about 65.0% TS guy in the RS.

It's fine to have an off-night, but it's also fine to acknowledge an off-night instead of trying to make it seem better than it was. He was struggling a bit trying to prop the team up while others around him did poorly. He is far from the only star to do so. Even the much-venerated Jordan had many, many nights like this against teams with cohesive defensive plans, particularly when he wasn't on the deepest and best of his title squads. Same same Lebron, and Kobe, and Shaq and what-not. Everyone has a night like this, but it is a disservice not to acknowledge when it happens.

If you're primary skill is scoring than league average TS% is a problem. If you're not, and that isn't Jokic's then it's just fine. The problem with Jokic in game was was the turnovers. But and this can't be stressed enough. Gobert just put on a master class in game 1. We need to give credit to him and the wolves defense before we start to be critical of the Denver offense.