Zach Lowe mentioned that some of it could be the series was the first series. But overall, Lowe said it wasn’t just that, there was something about the Wolves the Nuggets found physical and tough to deal with.
by Turbulent_Thanks_183
@National Basketball Association
30 Comments
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People are really taking this Wolves thing too far. If the Nuggets were forced to play another series against a team from their playoff run, they’d 100% choose Minnesota. Jokic’s wrist was clearly not healthy in the first round and it’s tough to say how much of his early shooting struggles were a result of the injury as opposed to the Gobert/Towns defense.
I mean makes sense. Wolves were the team best equipped to defend Nuggets. They can have KAT guard Jokic in the high post and still have Gobert at the rim to deny the frequent cuts to the paint the Nuggets run.
Don’t think it necessarily means Wolves are better than those teams. But against the Nuggets specifically you need either two bigs or a 4 who is strong enough that Jokic can’t just bully them in the post
Denver was too big and physical for the teams they faced in the playoffs. Makes sense that Minnesota- even down some of their bigs- was a tough match-up for them.
I might be the only one, but I’m high on Minnesota. They should be able to develop into a solid contender with where they are now. With good health they can either go on with this crew, or make whatever moves are necessary if this crew can’t work together.
Wait why were his comments met with snark? Were Lakers fans trying to claim they were Denver’s toughest test despite being swept? 😂
Yeah baby HANG THE BANNER
I said the same and my friends thought I was crazy lol. Minny’s size and twin tower duo did the most to bother Jokic, and Ant was probably the hardest player for our team to guard. Dude was just slicing us up with ease.
With the Minnesota series, it felt like the longer it went on the better their chances were. With all the other series, it felt inevitable that it was over. Only time I was really scared was when PHX tied it 2-2
Bruce Brown really said y’all spooky!
Eye test backed this up
bruce brown knows the lakers were bums
I have caught a ton of downvotes around here saying the same thing. Like, not shitting on the other teams. Minnesota played us tough outside of Game 1. Every other game was a fight. Their size inside affected Jokic far more than anyone else was able to, if you take that series out of the playoff run he was his normal hyper efficient self, but that series almost made him look mortal.
Ant was my favorite non Nugget this playoffs. He looked like the absolute truth and had no trouble with big moment pressure.
I don’t know why people would be upset. They were a lowkey dominant team through the season, they looked like it during the playoffs and any time they looked like they were trying hard they would win decisively. They were far and away better than their competition in each round.
They have the only combination of players at the 4/5 that can even hope to make Jokic’s life difficult.
And the have the hardest thing for us to guard, a super fast/athletic guard that can also shoot.
And that was without Jaden and Naz! We had no depth. NAW really stepped up and Ant went superstar mode
Yeah I still don’t think so. Through the first 3 games the Nuggets lost just one quarter and Jokic didn’t even shoot over 20 times or play over 40 minutes. In the building for games 1&2 the wolves seemed completely shellshocked. I’d bet this is just BB had to guard Edwards a lot and that wasn’t exactly a fun time
And the toughest team Minnesota faced? Oklahoma City Thunder
McDaniels breaking his hand and the gobert and Anderson beef was thr worst possible timing for wolves. Wolves should be aiming for a top 4 seed this season
r/nba nephews discovering that better team =/= better matchup.
It’s kinda like how the Suns got taken to 6 by the Pelicans in 2021. Was it because the Pelicans sans Zion were a team capable of reliably giving a competitive series to 60+ win teams? No, it’s because they had a team whose personnel just so happened to be the perfect squad to matchup with the Suns.
Suns fans punching air rn
The best way to go against Denver is to reduce Jokic effectiveness by putting pressure on him via foul trouble and constant attack.
KAT, Gobert and Ant all were putting a lot of pressure on Jokic – he had the most fouls per game vs Minny.
Granted I don’t really think we would have won even fully healthy. But the path is there.
I still chuckle at how the narrative has changed. Folks didn’t say anything about the Wolves until now. Before this, people were saying that the Suns gave the Nuggets the most problems
I mean they were playing like 8 v 2 against the Suns with CP3 out and Ayton being a nothing
Took God tier Book to win 2 games, crazy that somehow even with 4 max players the Suns are now a much more complete team going into 2024
Who cares
Wolves top 3 in the west at minimum. Cash it 💰
That’s because they didn’t play the Sacramento Kings.
THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT BABY (tho it might be a train named Gobert’s Contract)
Average margin of victory for Denver:
* Minnesota – 12.5
* Phoenix – 17.25
* Lakers – 6
* Heat – 11
The Tim Connelly factor here is absolutely fascinating.
Nba fans don’t understand matchups. What else is new