“Nikola Jokic doing Joker things” – ESPN’s Stephen A. reacts to Nuggets dominate Knicks 113-100

“Nikola Jokic doing Joker things” – ESPN’s Stephen A. reacts to Nuggets dominate Knicks 113-100

Delta MSG Studios BPO along with Allen Hans so the road trip ends up 3 and one Orlando won tonight highlights coming up on the MSG 15 that means the Knicks are now fifth overall in the East and they got within two in the fourth quarter bench really helping the cause but yic

Then came into the game back into the game and down 9088 with 8/19 to go Denver dominated the final 8 minutes this is why they are a championship Contender they’re a defending Champion they have all their players the Knicks don’t their starting five dominated the Knicks starting five what they had

Tonight but the Knicks put up a fight in the final game of the road trip no question about it but the stats that stand out to you besides y’s triple double of course is the fact that the Knicks had their lowest rebounding total of the season they only had 10 at the

Half they finished with 31 they were they are the one of the best if not the best offensive rebounding team in the league they only had four season low four offensive rebounds so no Second Chance points Denver dominated the glass nine re nine offensive rebounds turned it into seven Second Chance points so

Even when their both offenses were efficient they were just getting scoring in all different ways and then they were getting it done in the painted area 66 points in the paint the Knicks since the All-Star break had the number one paint defense in the league holding teams to

Just 42 points per game in the paint and Denver just obliterated that with 66 and so there’s your difference right there is they dominated in the paint they dominated on the boards all the physical stats of this game they dominated and it just shows you one team had their full

Team and the other team missing some pieces no it’s interesting you look at the rebounding numbers and the points in the paint that’s even though Isaiah hartstein had a career high 20 points yes he played very well against joic and yet the Knicks were still dominated down

Low yeah hardenstein had a career night from scoring wise and and you saw him this whole trip taking on other bigs and battling them including Devon sabonis another triple double King in this league and he played him physical and that’s what he has been doing it’s showing you that while he was dealing

With the Achilles issue earlier in the season he’s starting to come back around again see those are all the good signs you take from this stuff Tom tippet always says you win or you learn what did we learn tonight we’re learning Isaiah hartenstein is really rounding

Back into form and what we saw in the middle of the Season where he became a real promising starting center also with the news that the previous starting center Mitchell Robinson cleared for contact and has been practicing with the team that’s big news as well Nicks bench

Outscored Denver’s bench 30 to13 and it was the bench that got the Knicks back into of the game I mentioned they were within two with 8/19 to go but then the rest of the way Allan as we take a look Denver outs scores and Knicks in the

Final 8/19 by the count of 23 yeah yeah bu on bonov the only shot he made but that was a big three and suddenly it’s a two-point game but you see you know Jamal Murray gets back in the game yic gets back in the game Jamal Murray was

Determined when he got back in the game to not let this be a game they gave away you see him laying down there he gave everything he had took a couple of hits this game wasn’t a very physical game not a lot of fouls called in it and

Here’s the shot you’re talking about look at this I mean who throws the ball up in the air has that soft of a touch when have you ever seen a ball just bounce on a rim so softly like he does uncanny then of course the passing one

Of his great traits one of his many great traits and that gets an open three and then you know kind of the showtime was on now for the nuggets as they kind of could feel it as they were looking to get that home win locked up and they did

Three-point shooting was not an issue tonight for the Knicks in fact it was better for them hitting the 11 you see the boards it was 2110 at the half by the way that’s is that because shot so well in the first both teams shot very

Well but they also NX was smaller and it was notable Monica mcnut made that point at the very start of the game how much smaller the Knicks looked on the floor remember the Knicks went with mcde in the starting five and not a Chua because mcde was so good the other night against

Golden State so the Knicks are going small against Denver team that’s got a lot of size 64 Josh Hart at the four you know keep that in mind against 68 69 Aaron Gordon and even Michael Porter Jr on the wing is 68 a bigger player than Dante dent the Knicks was smaller they

Were going to try to play this game the way they played it in Golden State they were able to get wins on this trip with different strategies defensively that lineup looked good and it worked really well it just wasn’t going to be enough but even still it’s not like the Knicks

Were embarrassed or run off the floor in this game fourth game of a four-game road trip to the West against the defending champs you are under Mann and the Knicks were in this game in the fourth quarter it says a lot about the resilience and the toughness of this

Team it was simply some shots that fell short and the Nuggets knew that they had to win this game you know they’re trying to do they’re 13- two now since the All-Star break they’re trying to get the number one seat in the west they’re trying to get back to repeating his

Champs so this game mattered to them and as I mentioned yic the whole game you could see determination but Jamal Murray came back in the game in the fourth quarter when the Nicks bench cut it to two and he also took it up a notch physically and emotionally and with his

Intensity and it shows you and Michael Malone said it before the game too they remember what happened the Knicks beat them by 38 here at the Garden and so he said well they got our attention well the Knicks kept their attention this whole game because it took 48 minutes

For them to win I know yic is on the other side on the opposition but he boy he’s a joy to watch yeah he he just such an economy of motion yes and it just seems like every time the ball is around the rim off of his hands it ends up

Going in it bounces it goes in it rolls around it goes in watch yeah his touch it really is it’s he just has that soft touch but look I mean the pass like that where he’s not even looking but he just feels the game so well he knows where

His teammates are and he can make plays like that and then if you want to get physical he can do that too there you’re talking about the touch where he just whips it up at the basket and it just rolls in there’s the passing ability again where he’s not even looking but

The pass goes right into the shooter’s pocket which is incredible offensive rebounding if you’re a young kid and you’re a big kid and you’re supposed to be a rebounder look what he does here he never brings the ball down so you can’t block it and he gets rid of it quickly

So you can’t react to it it’s such a special skill and easier said than done and of course there’s this type of stuff which you can’t teach that you can’t practice that you either have it or you don’t and you know like I give up like

What am I supposed to do he just threw it up in the air and it went in but you think that’s a lucky shot it’s not he has that kind of touch it’s what makes him special in today’s NBA they’re all about playing faster right speed Pace

Athleticism all the things that are hard to keep up with he slows you down he plays at his Pace he makes you slow down and you think you got him because he’s not moving he’s not going anywhere but he has that footwork ability very similar to Jaylen Brunson and he also

Has that ability to hold you off physically and his body control for a guy of his size and stature is remarkable he should win MVP again this year his third time in four years and you mentioned Jaylen Brunson in defeat tonight 26 points so you total it up

Allen in the four- game Road Trip for him he averages 36.8 points per game over the last four he had a phenomenal trip he played great he also was a guy that we saw in the second half shots were falling short he showed a lot of frustration in his

Shooting early on he was excellent getting where he wanted to setting the tone offensively taking hits again not getting to the free throw line it’s just a thing that goes on that’s why it was funny when Gary pton said that you know you can’t touch Brunson sure you can he

Never gets a lot of these Ticky Tac calls but he also knows where to go on the floor and just like yic for a guy who’s a foot smaller he’s also a Marvel to watch because of his footwork ability and his also just touch and feel for the

Game getting to his spots it was in the second half where you can see the fatigue sitting in with him he fell short on a couple of shots missed a three or two he could have easily gotten to 30 in this game but you know you just

Saw it kick in late and you saw him a couple of times get mad at himself because the ball just off his fingertips fell a little short it can happen it happened tonight but he’s still if you want to call this a mediocre game for him

26-9 that tells you why he’s an all NBA player all right Brunson by the way also tonight had nine assists six assists in the first half ties his career high for any half finished the game with nine we’re waiting the postgame comments from Nicks coach Tom Tibido and also ahead we

Have the MSG 150 which is next we got all kinds of things happening here uhoh rockets and a little bit of a what do we have we got to sort this out when we come back next For foreign speech for for Fore here Is for For for for Some for foreign speech speech

“Nikola Jokic doing Joker things” – ESPN’s Stephen A. reacts to Nuggets dominate Knicks 113-100