FIRST TAKE | Nuggets have been on a strong roll – Stephen A. on Nikola Jokic handling Spurs 117-106

FIRST TAKE | Nuggets have been on a strong roll – Stephen A. on Nikola Jokic handling Spurs 117-106

Yic and the Denver Nuggets getting set to take on Victor wenyama and the Spurs first possession of the game Victor wanyama blocks jump look get off the ground love it take find FL on and again y said hey you not windy hey he had 15 in the first quarter he

Don’t need to jump okay Wendy and Bama with the layup he had 179 and three blocks right yic with the ball on the floor yeah the pump F yeah gets him up he had 317 and five yic did halftime score Denver up 5849 in the third good ball

Movement man just unself o we just unselfish basketball Michael Porter Jun Jamal Murray they win it 117 nuggets did hold them they did they sure did they did and the Denver Nuggets get their 20th Road win of the season that’s one more than they had all of

Last season and that was a point of emphasis coming into this season was we want to be a better Road team how did they show up tonight well I I thought spectacular you know coming out of the gates offense all cylinders defense shutting them down they build a 19point

Lead at the end of the first quarter quarter and D they you know San anonio reeled him in a few times there but the Nuggets kept pushing it back up yeah that was all really all that that was required in this basketball game you got off to such a good start um both

Offensively and defensively uh they put it on cruise control a little bit in that second quarter uh but they they kind of evened it back out in that second half and um you know the San Antonio Spurs they they are on a total different life cycle and they’re just

Trying to lay a foundation for what they’re going to be in the future I think one of those things actually will be a good offensive team uh but right now they’re just not ready for a team like the nuggets in they’re not a good defensive team period no they’re bad

They can score a little bit but no need well Nicole yic took full advantage he had 31 points tonight the last 12 games that he’s played against the Spurs he’s averaging 30 points a game how did he dominate well he he just did his thing most of them are around the paint mocked

In one three but uh maybe my favorite shot of the night he had a kind of a floater Bank one-handed bank shot when wiana just went after it you can jump high but you can’t jump that high that little push shot there was good Joker

You know he only had to play 31 minutes with that 31 points ktie just just another outstanding Joker Knight yeah and just not you see this right there Victor wiama for as tall as he is um is just too light to be able to handle on

Ni yach who’s going to pound on you before uh he he takes that shot and I mean they tried a number of different things San Antonio did defensively against nicoa yic um having wiama off ball and bringing trying to bring him over as a help Defender sometimes as a

Primary Defender just all the things but um what papovich knows is he can’t stop him and and he’s he’s a huge yage fan I mean this is that exchange between the two of them happens every single time these two teams play because of the mutual respect

They have for each other yeah I mean pop just that you good point pop is such a purist when it comes to basketball he likes it played the right way with the passing the good shot selection and Joker gives you all that I mean let’s be

Honest how can you not be a fan of Nicole yic you’re crazy you should be a fan you’re crazy if you’re not a fan of Nicole yic let’s talk about the Denver Nuggets bench they are our ball future is in your hands feature in this postgame show Reggie Jackson Christian

Brown pton Watson Justin holiday they stepped up big time 47 bench points and den you mentioned this it wasn’t like it was garbage time for these guys like they were very productive when the Nuggets needed them to be yeah this was a really real performance by all of

Those guys and you needed we talked prior to the game about the Nuggets seem to catch a good performance from one or multiple of these guys almost every single night Christian Brown uh again uh he did it all you know I mean look he was he played with confidence in the

Miami game that fourth quarter especially and that just carried right over into this game hands really did I mean bench Kim credy I mean the lead was nine with about nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter so were were they going to have to roll AG M uh Michael

Porter and Joker back in or not and the bench just rose up give them rest yeah I won’t lie to you guys Chris memy was rooting for the San Antonio Spurs when we came in here to get ready for the postgame show just hanging in the

Balance do we get him in do we get him in do we get him in and to the group that was out there to their credit they were able to you know hold the Spurs off and keep our lead to 2018 176 and uh anytime we can get those guys rest at

This point in the season is obviously uh to our advantage um so I thought our first quarter defense was unbelievable second and third we didn’t play any defense and fourth quarter we got back to playing some defense held in the 40% from the field uh 36 assists is a great

Number 66 in the paint is a great number and the bench was outstanding 47 bench points tonight got contributions from a lot of people how important is it to see consistency from that second unit now as you get to this part of the Season there I’m how how time even listen I’m

Listening to the song over there you one of my favorite songs what song is it uh well you don’t know better has somebody I’m sorry repeat your question Ben how important is it to start to get consistency from that second un this part of the year when you’ve kind of had

The natural ups and downs with some of the young guys throughout the season just to sort of get a sequence of games where it’s guys are stepping up in the Miami game guys are stepping up yeah I I think it’s a really important point because um it’s such a delicate balance

When you’re trying to win at a high level and develop as many young guys as we are and the only way you can really do it is by letting them you know play through their growing Paints the ups and downs that you mentioned um and to see

Obviously you know Reggie’s not a young guy but for CB for Payton even for Zeke for those guys that go out there and just to get more confident more aggressive uh in their respective roles with now 15 games to go um and that’s been a big part of us being 11 to1

Coming out of the break yes it’s good offense it’s good defense but we’re getting consistency and productivity from the bench and uh you know I’m really impressed with those guys and uh once again with 15 to go we got a challenge going to Dallas and it never

Gets any easier and that’s what great teams do they continue to just you know chip away and and and stay the course the other night AG said he said this in regard to Reggie but said this team gets mad at you if you don’t shoot um and how

Teammates were kind of trying to stress to that you should stay aggressive keep that mindset is it sort of been the same for Christian in terms of the message from teammates and coaches throughout this season when he’s had some of his struggles yeah because I felt you know

During the first half of the Season Christian would miss a shot then the next possession that he was open he wouldn’t shoot it and he’d Drive the ball in the traffic and either take a tough two which anal analytically speaking is not a great shot or maybe

Turn the ball over and I remember when I met with him and watch film that was one of the things that was an emphasis like you shooting an open shot is a good shot regardless if it goes in or not we need you to shoot open shots and he had that

Step back tonight and um you know I I was just so happy for him because now he’s shooting it with confidence and he’s mixing in driving finishing kicking rounding as well as shooting a three-point shot with just great confidence so uh that that’s uh that’s great to see from CB coach you you

Always talk about trust when you when you mentioned holiday and I thought he came up big tonight he made that that that big three at the end of the third quarter once again a little momentum Builder going into the fourth made some threes made some good plays had some steals he was

Uh he was good you know what like uh two plays that kind of jump out about kind of defined justtin the holiday you mentioned the three at the end of the third quarter five-point game not then all a sudden he hits that now we’re up eight little things like that can have a

Huge effect ripple effect and then he misses a breakaway dunp doesn’t drop his head doesn’t feel sorry for himself isn’t embarrassed gets back in transition and gets a steal that’s who he is he’s a guy that just plays next play mentality um you know you look

At his Line Tonight five of nine from the field three of six from three 13 points and uh two steals so um he’s a veteran and every time you call upon him he’s going to do something to help your team win the League’s leading shot par has

Three blocks on lead tless other one lead um at your Center was people say different stuff about the defense I think had two blocks it really was dominant against in the post just describe what you saw from his play from nicoa or wemy ni yeah I mean I think the

First time we posted Nia I think Wy blocked it and then you know NOA is like a a savant okay I see what he did there how can I make sure that doesn’t happen again how can I use my body get into him collapse him a little bit get that hook

A little bit further out to take away his wingspan shot fakes got him in foul trouble I think that’s the key if you’re going to beat that team obviously getting wiama in foul trouble and uh you know getting him on the bench is but the

Best way to stop him uh but that kid’s got a really bright future he’s only going to get better as he gets stronger um but yeah Nia you know 31 and uh just did it in a lot of different ways one more question I know if you talk about

Already but the points off turnover did a nice job getting the Steals and turnovers and then converting them into some points yeah I mean 13 steals is a lot obviously as you mentioned we forced I think 17 turnovers for 27 points and uh you know the reason that our our fast

Break numbers have been improved since the All-Star break is yes our defense has been better but we are averaging a lot of steals I think since the All-Star break we top maybe three or four in steals per game you know the nuggets are in one now and as we sit here right now

The nuggets are 10 and one since the that fast becoming famous jokic text that um cavius cwell Pope talked about um do do you think that’s kcp keep Championship players Rob pinka do you think uh jic is very active in the Nuggets group text McMahon I

Would guess not I I don’t think I I bet she’s not a big Emoji guy you be amazing if he was actually like a huge Emoji guy like if he only tweet texted emojis wouldn’t that yeah maybe he does it does help I was going to say I can’t I I

Don’t know if I would really go either way on any of that with him feels like you remember do you remember last year after they won the finals and he came to The Press Room um and uh they asked somebody in the press conference asked they because uh uh

Jokovic had just um noac I think had just won I don’t know Wimbledon or whatever it was and I think became the all-time leading winner and and they said have you heard from Novak yet and he said he’s like let me see and he pulled out

His phone he looked it’s a classic piece of video and he looks at his phone and he sees like God knows how many text messages and he just goes oh bleep and slams his phone down I’m not sure that he’s super duper into text but you know remember right before the All-Star break

The Nuggets dropped three games in a row and very looked bad doing it I were they in fourth at that point I think I think they hit the All-Star break in fourth I mean they were it was sort of a jumbled up mess at the time but they were either

In fourth or I mean they were all together yeah you know but look it’s been s well at time yeah it’s sort of been the inverse of last season right this time of year last year everybody was wondering about where the Nuggets were going to be and you know they were

Struggling down the stretch they already wrapped up the one seed and people were wondering if they were going to going the playoffs again or not and this year it’s almost the inverse where they got to March 1st and said all right let’s make sure we get home court advantage in

The west and have you know put together this great streak and had obviously a bit of an escape the other day against Toronto but had the great win against Boston last week and are certainly rounded into form and look every bit the uh the defending champ that they are

Well you you mentioned they’d lost three straight going into the break and then you come out of the break and oh my gosh shamal Murray’s dealing with shin splints like right uh you know how’s this going to go and he took they had a back-to-back come out of the break pretty friendly

Back-to-back uh wiz are they the Wizards now or are they still the lizards I well they did they did get they got some wins they got a couple wins but I I think that they just lost to the what’s left over of the gries so

They back by the way time out time out moment of the season for the Grizzlies poor Grizzlies fans the NBA tweets out this video from when the Grizzlies played the Wizards the other night and it’s tus Jones wearing a Wizard’s Jersey going and seeing his old friends

With the Grizzlies all four of them jiren Jackson Brandon Clark John Morant and Dez Bane all four of them in Street close yeah this was the epitome of the grizzly season looking at tus Jones who was traded in a move that was totally had blown up in their face and then the

Four three of the best players of the team in a very important sub four the top six I would say yes not playing not playing I was like oh my God that’s the hey as long as going on that side quick good news for the Grizzlies Desmond Bane

And Brandon Clark uh practiced with the Memphis hustle played five on five on Tuesday and Bane actually is going to come back and play for the Grizzlies again soon um which a I would say a mild surprise given the state of things and then just the fact that Clark was able

To play has progressed to playing five on five off thees that’s a huge step for him be good to see him get a little time on the court before the end of the year just to see where he’s at right anyways we were talking about the Nuggets coming

Out of the break you know uh oh Jamal Murray’s got Shin splin so he sat that second game of that backto back where they spanked the the Blazers leftovers since then in nine games he’s averaging uh 24 points seven assists shooting splits of 53 46 uh 79 super efficient and they are

Eight- one in those games so I don’t know how concerning Jamal muray Shin are playing his best ball of the Season PT post text which I assume yic was like come on boys let’s start acting like Champs uh which is kind of what Caldwell Pope said when he talked about it um

They’re 10 and one number two in offense number seven in defense uh and joic is slaying and they’re not going to catch the the Celtics um for the number one overall but getting the number one in the west is definitely doable because they have the easiest schedule

Amongst all the teams in the west especially amongst those contenders um they play the wolf three times without towns so they have total control about where they’re going to be uh which you know they’re they’re down 01 in the season series but the the the the Nuggets control that and the Thunder

Have a top 10 difficult schedule so the Thunder are just behind them uh and they get we’ll see what happens tonight they get Dallas on a second night of a back toback without Luca that’s that’s a nice sweetener but I like the Nuggets to get to to get that number one seed and

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FIRST TAKE | Nuggets have been on a strong roll – Stephen A. on Nikola Jokic handling Spurs 117-106