Are Steph Curry & Warriors biggest threat to Nikola Jokic & Nuggets repeat? | Hoops Tonight

Are Steph Curry & Warriors biggest threat to Nikola Jokic & Nuggets repeat? | Hoops Tonight

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So you guys don’t miss any of our content over the course of this season all right let’s talk some basketball with the Warriors having a shot to make the playoffs now I think that they are the team with the best chance to beat the Nuggets with yic having a hard time

Coming up to the screen and how well Steph and clay shoot off screens I think it will give them open looks and open up the middle for kaminga and Wiggins to have driving Lanes so I’m really encouraged by the recent stretch of basketball from the Warriors but I don’t

Necessarily think they have a real shot to beat the Nuggets uh just because the nuggets are in my opinion the best team in the league that doesn’t mean they don’t have a shot but I do want to dive into it a little bit so let’s let’s talk

About both sides of the four just for a second just kind of a loose little like initial impression of the matchup so specifically the idea of spacing Nicole yic out typically I would agree with you and ideally you need to have a team that can bring joic out to the level of the

Screen while having the amount of off-ball talent to capitalize for the way that Denver likes to load up because one of the things that you’ll see the Nuggets do in a series against the Warriors is they’ll just defend pick and roll three on two they they will be like Jonathan

Kaminga shoot all the threes you want Andrew Wiggins shoot all the threes you want and there will be plays where they execute their you know uh one two three on that four on three really fast and you get a back door lob for kaminga along the baseline or maybe a slot cut

From wigin along the wing but Jonathan kaminga you know he shot really really well during that hot streak he’s two for 10 on his last 10 threes and he’s only 32% on the season the playoff game plan for kaminga will be a short close out the playoff game plan for kaminga will

Be you can play off this guy to help elsewhere and the same goes for Andrew Wiggins and so while St is uniquely equipped to stretch Denver’s defense out at the point of attack they are not super well equipped on the weak side to take advantage of it and so that doesn’t

Mean they can’t do it but like they would just have to have their timing down so good on those back door cuts and Aaron Gordon’s going to be just camping under the basket basically that entire series like it’s just going to be it’ll be a little bit of a tougher matchup

Because Denver’s defense is built to withstand teams that are very topheavy with Talent which the Warriors definitely qualify as on the other end of the floor I really like the matchup for the Warriors they have the unique ability to put a big strong Wing in Andrew Wiggins on Jamal Murray while

Having one of the best options in the league to guard in Nicole yic and Draymond Green and so they have as good a chance as anybody in the league to you know with the Nuggets it’s always this delicate balance between guarding the yic Murray actions two on two versus

Sending an additional body where guys like kyp Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr can kill you right and like to me you know it’s kind of like the one time we saw the Nuggets lose in the last two rounds last year was in the NBA Finals game two against the Heat what happened

In that Series in that game it was Jimmy Butler and Bam just did an unbelievable job guarding the yic Murray two-man game and it’s like I think Wiggins and Draymond have that potential and so to kind of like to uh and then backside athleticism too just having a Jonathan

Kaminga on the weak side that can rotate around that’s real athleticism there like you know Steph and whether it’s Brandon pamy or clay at the two they have the ability from an IQ standpoint to rotate around and they can rebound like that that lineup’s been really gifted defensively so to kind of like

Put a bow on it like I would still pick the Nuggets they deserve to be the favorites in that matchup they’re the defending Champions I think they’re the best team in the league this year by a reasonable margin um but yeah of course the Warriors have a chance it would just

Come down to I think defensively they have as good a chances anybody to slow down the Nuggets just cuz some of their higher end Personnel but on the other end of the floor is going to be the big one it’s will they be able to load up on

Steep and will Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan kaminga in particular be able to consistently cause problems for them and and honestly matchups are a big one too because one of the things you’ll see is like who’s Aaron Gordon’s going to guard so Aaron one of the things that

The Warriors really like to do is to attack postup mismatches to begin possessions with Wiggins and kaminga in particular so let’s say uh uh you know uh Mike Malone goes we’re gonna put Aaron Gordon on Jonathan kaminga because he’s been one of the best young post players in the league this year we’re

Going to take him away well chances are you’re going to end up with a lot of possessions where Andrew Wiggins is being guarded by someone like a Michael Porter Jr right and like that’s a matchup that he can take advantage of he’s got a speed and athleticism

Advantage on him like Michael Porter Jr doesn’t move super well laterally and so maybe you can get Andrew Wiggins with some quick slot isos where he just rips through to the right and just uses his athleticism to beat Michael Porter Jr like every time we get into these playoff matchups there’s always every

Team brings different advantages to the table and you kind of lay them out and you start to look at them and and I definitely think the Warriors have some tools in their toolkit that can give Denver issues but I do think that Denver’s defense is set up in a way to

Cause Golden State some problems but same goes on the other end of the floor I just think the uh the nuggets are a better basketball team overall and they deserve the like kind of that initial confidence if that makes sense all right two more questions we’re out of here hi

Jason Warriors fan here Klay Thompson did an interview with Logan Murdoch on Monday where he said that he is open to taking a reduced role following a mold of how Reggie Miller and Ray Allen contributed in their later years what do you think that means for his game and

How do you think that affects lineups play style and overall strategy for Golden State enjoy the show few people break it down like you do keep up the great work thank you for the kind words I really appreciate it um I was never worried about this with Klay Thompson

The thing that I I was always talk about this when I’m comparing some of the top players in the league but to me there’s a big difference between like loving basketball in hating losing and generally speaking the teams that are truly great they hate losing more than anything it’s like a

Difference it’s like there’s a Love of the Game and then there’s like overarching competitiveness and there’s a competitiveness that the Warriors group has that I think is directly responsible for a lot of their success over the years like these guys are just psychopath competitors Klay Thompson is

Definitely one of those guys this guy you can just tell by watching him emotionally after every win and loss like the everything for this guy hinges on winning basketball games and so there obviously was going to be a little bit of a transition as clay came to

Acceptance with his kind of decline over the last few years and I mean he himself has said like dude I’m 35 I think he’s 35 that’s if I got his age right but he’s like dude I’m 35 post Achilles post ACL like I he like he he’s very aware

Of his own decline he understands and beyond that like I never had a doubt that he’d be the type of guy that would do whatever it takes to help the team win whether that’s in the short term you know don’t be surprised if in a big playoff moment if Brandon pmy gets to

Close games over clay taking a discount in the off season to stay on the roster uh uh for the final years of his career um in a smaller role rather than chasing money elsewhere like like I I just think Clay’s the kind of guy that’ll do that

For his team because all he cares about is winning all right last question does it feel like this year is more wide open than most to win the championship even though Denver is the clear front runner they don’t feel unbeatable to me would love to know your thoughts love the show

Best in the business once again thank you for the kind words and for the support um I agree I don’t think Denver’s unbeatable I do think they’re a clearly discernable margin above everybody else but I don’t think it’s a particularly large margin to me it feels pretty

Similar to last year in the sense that there’s like six or seven teams that have a real chance and then there’s another like three or four that have punchers chances but in situations like that that is where I tend to lean on some of the more experienced teams right

And like like Denver to me like if they end up in a series with a team that doesn’t really know who they are yet whether it’s like a Western Conference Finals match up with a Minnesota or an Oklahoma City for instance right like those that that to me is an example

Where like in a series like that just having been there before matters a ton like being in those Wars matters a ton and like a lot of a lot of times like we gloss over the fact that like Denver won easily last year but they’ve had their

Struggles they lost two years in a row uh you know with joic at the helm with guys out of the lineup you know like Aaron Gordon was still playing during those those games right like it’s not like they were um uh it’s not like it was just

Joic and four bums right like those guys were still getting reps going back to 2020 trailing 3-1 in the Clippers series and coming back to win losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals like these nuggets have been in battles man they’ve been in battles like they are tested this is a

Group that has been together a long time and so to me that is their their kind of differentiator but I definitely agree that this is uh more wide open than most years but it does remind me a lot of last year in the sense that it feels

Like there’s a hefty like dozen teams that have like a believ chance to do it even if it’s somewhat small but that there’s this clear kind of like tiar at the top that feels closer than everyone Else

Jason Timpf reacts to the Golden State Warriors starting to find their form heading into the All-Star break. With Steph Curry starting to play like an MVP, Klay Thompson’s redefined role, and the emergence of Jonathan Kuminga, are the Warriors the biggest threat to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets?

Timeline:
00:00 – Do Warriors have best chance to beat Nuggets?
05:31 – Klay Thompson taking reduced roll
07:32 – Are Nuggets unbeatable?

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