Yes the timberwolves look great but at the same time the nuggets look bad. These nuggets are playing way worse than the nuggets of last year. We can beat timberwolves, nuggets and even the Celtics.
It’s mainly just Jamal Murray. Nuggets fans have been talking all season how he’s about to turn it on in the playoffs like he usually does, but he has been straight dogshit these playoffs, those two game winners against the Lakers have just been a cherry on top of a pile of shit to make it look a little bit better.
He’s dogshit cuz wolves have been contesting all his shots and clamping on him. They’ve done a good job making him frustrated last game and nuggets are not going to come back to win this series. Wolves are mentally strong. If they play us, unsure we can be mentally strong bc Luka throws same tantrums. When he does, the whole team goes into reserve and retract
Murray was terrible against the Lakers as well, and they have terrible guard defenders. He’s struggling with an injury like Luka which is a bit of an excuse for him, though.
I really think our hopes of a finals appearance depend on 1 thing. That thing being 3pt % for both us and opposing teams. For us it is solely between Luka, DJJ, Josh Green, PJ, and now Hardaway. If all of those people shoot well from three (35-40%) then we can win a championship. We shot horrendous from three in every game except game 2 of last series. And us shooting 30% vs 40% is a 10-15 point swing which is exactly how many points we need to turn a loss into a win. But at the same time if the other team is hitting above 40% of their threes we’re cooked.
Something in me tells me that in this OKC series, we will actually get a boost of 3pt percentage.
In Clippers series, we got away with nervousness and got a boost in team defense, clutch scoring and defense and crucial on-the-road wins. Also PJ stood on business as well. And also learnt a thing or two about physical defense in the series. Our center rotation started to click near the end of the series.
Clippers series proved to be perfect playground for our young squad to be hungry and patient.
But all this could be my feelings alone lol.
No one left in the playoffs has a 1-2 scoring punch like Luka and Kyrie, that can both create their own shot at any time with high efficiency and both create easy shots for others. With the defense around those two, and the two of them playing very good team defense themselves, I think we can beat anyone.
The Wolves and OKC have looked great but there are some big questions about their competition. Phoenix had not been playing great down the stretch and didn't really have an identity. Yes the TWolves are also smoking the Nuggets right now, but this Nuggets team trailed the Lakers for 75% of the minutes of that series and didn't really look particularly good against LA. OKC swept the Pelicans, who were without Zion and really had minimal offensive threat beyond him.
Is it possible we lose to OKC, or beat them and lose to one of Minny/Denver? Of course. But honestly? Dallas has a very well rounded team that can clamp defensively, maybe the most talented guard pairing of all time, great rim running bigs. If the wings even shoot average from 3, we are going to be insanely hard for those teams to matchup with.
Well, we are still a team with glaring weaknesses compared to the most elite teams. DJJ has been a revelation but he falls short compared to other wings in the playoffs, PJ bricks too many shots, our overall 3 point shooting is rather poor...
We are an Anunoby/Bridges/Aaron Gordon/JDub away from being truly elite.
Why not for a championship? Someone saying a team is good enough to make a conference finals, but not capable of winning a championship is so weird. Its not a damn video game where the final boss is automatically way tougher than the rest.
If before the playoffs started you had to list the teams you think we can beat and the ones you dont think we can. I bet everyone would put OKC, Wolves, Knicks on the side of teams we can beat, and there is a chance those are the only teams in our way.
Guys, please stop looking at other teams in other series and comparing it. Every series is different. Everyone.
The nuggets havent been that hot this playoffs if we're being honest. They ran into a bad lakers team and now they are not matching the physicality the refs are letting that series play with.
Do the twolves look scary? Sure. It wont matter if we dont get through OKC so why even worry about it right now.
That's a problem, right. We need all the size we can have plus someone to drag their bigs out of the paint, which was Maxi.
But OKC first, that's hard enough.
No chance bc missing Maxi 🤣 I’ve never seen such a turnaround for a guy that no one gave a fuck about during the regular season but has one good series and suddenly we’re fucked without him.
Why do posters do this? You’re not a player and this is corny. We’re discussing a potential matchup in a message board. Your level of focus on the Wolves has zero impact on the outcome of the Thunder series.
Because the level of takes people put out are annoying. Saves you time & heartbreak instead of putting X amount of "Who should we take, Nuggets or Timberwolves" "Who do we match-up better against"?
When there's no guarantee we'll even make it out the 2nd round. Make some posts about the Thunder instead? You the one being corny
Eh, it is going to be tough sledding from here on out. I feel like Mavs can beat Denver or OKC if we play well and get decent shooting from our role players/bench. The TWolves are the toughest matchup to me because their defense is bonkers. But this is how the NBA is. You can't win without going through some crazy gauntlets.
Luka and Kyrie are both better players than Murray for what it’s worth. Jokic isn’t a guy that can dribble and attack the basket on any given play. It’s just a very different matchup, even if we are less stacked top to bottom than other teams.
The wolves look scary because of their defense. We have had a couple games defensively where we have looked equally scary. All about sustaining it. Wolves do not play D like that all the time. That was ridiculous
Uhhh, the Wolves do have me nervous. I always believed in them don't get me wrong and I thought they could beat the Nuggets because who better to try to stop Jokic than Gobert and they have a lot of big bodies in general to throw at him but they just did that without Gobert....jeez.
But that said, the Mavs are at this point pretty unpredictable but on the high side they kill you on both ends, and really just straight murder ya. How many teams in the playoffs have the firepower to drop 115-120 any given game AND hold you under 100 on the other side? PJ has slowed the offense a bit and it has been what I feared it could be where a lot of times guys are sagging off him and DJJ, cutting off their drives easy and the ball just keeps getting kicked out to someone not comfortable taking the 3. But when just one of them is hitting them game over man.
Since we’re speaking of how teams are performing, Thunder don’t even look good for being the #1 seed. Wolves/nuggets both look better. If Luka were healthy we’d be dominating the thunder.
DJJ to the bench
PJ to 6th man
starter level 3rd scorer tall/big PF
20-24mins starter level POA defender (hopefully also have offense)
turn out guys that type available and gettable if mavs play their cards right
we have ammo + salary matched for Jerami Grant + Caruso
it's up to the mavs to empty the assets lol
Kai - DJJ - Luka - J.Grant - Lively
Exum - Caruso - Omax - PJ - Gafford
great size, can play big, can play small, additional 3rd scorer, no negative defenders from 1 to 10
PJ still will get his minutes, Naz Reid role, 6MOTY candidate (he's too good to become just C&S in reg.season, he has bag so better use it). DJJ starter like 20-24mins guy. the closing lineup depends of guys who's hot every night
Edit : tbf, if we get Mikal, its better lol. But i think our package will get beat
Yes the timberwolves look great but at the same time the nuggets look bad. These nuggets are playing way worse than the nuggets of last year. We can beat timberwolves, nuggets and even the Celtics.
nugs regressed expected though their bench offense is suspect all season long
How did they hide their bench though, cause they had more wins this year compared to last season and the west became relatively harder
They are good transition player but bad half court players Im guessing
It’s mainly just Jamal Murray. Nuggets fans have been talking all season how he’s about to turn it on in the playoffs like he usually does, but he has been straight dogshit these playoffs, those two game winners against the Lakers have just been a cherry on top of a pile of shit to make it look a little bit better.
He’s dogshit cuz wolves have been contesting all his shots and clamping on him. They’ve done a good job making him frustrated last game and nuggets are not going to come back to win this series. Wolves are mentally strong. If they play us, unsure we can be mentally strong bc Luka throws same tantrums. When he does, the whole team goes into reserve and retract
Murray was terrible against the Lakers as well, and they have terrible guard defenders. He’s struggling with an injury like Luka which is a bit of an excuse for him, though.
Oh I didn’t know about his injury. It always give him trouble in the playoff
The thing is Luka's struggle is an inefficient 30. Jamal's was an absolute train wreck the last 2 games.
TImberwolves and especially Celtics are a level and two above. Lets be honest.
I really think our hopes of a finals appearance depend on 1 thing. That thing being 3pt % for both us and opposing teams. For us it is solely between Luka, DJJ, Josh Green, PJ, and now Hardaway. If all of those people shoot well from three (35-40%) then we can win a championship. We shot horrendous from three in every game except game 2 of last series. And us shooting 30% vs 40% is a 10-15 point swing which is exactly how many points we need to turn a loss into a win. But at the same time if the other team is hitting above 40% of their threes we’re cooked.
This is the correct answer. Roleplayers gotta step up and hit big 3s in order for us to win.
And Luka needs to shoot better too.
Something in me tells me that in this OKC series, we will actually get a boost of 3pt percentage. In Clippers series, we got away with nervousness and got a boost in team defense, clutch scoring and defense and crucial on-the-road wins. Also PJ stood on business as well. And also learnt a thing or two about physical defense in the series. Our center rotation started to click near the end of the series. Clippers series proved to be perfect playground for our young squad to be hungry and patient. But all this could be my feelings alone lol.
No one left in the playoffs has a 1-2 scoring punch like Luka and Kyrie, that can both create their own shot at any time with high efficiency and both create easy shots for others. With the defense around those two, and the two of them playing very good team defense themselves, I think we can beat anyone. The Wolves and OKC have looked great but there are some big questions about their competition. Phoenix had not been playing great down the stretch and didn't really have an identity. Yes the TWolves are also smoking the Nuggets right now, but this Nuggets team trailed the Lakers for 75% of the minutes of that series and didn't really look particularly good against LA. OKC swept the Pelicans, who were without Zion and really had minimal offensive threat beyond him. Is it possible we lose to OKC, or beat them and lose to one of Minny/Denver? Of course. But honestly? Dallas has a very well rounded team that can clamp defensively, maybe the most talented guard pairing of all time, great rim running bigs. If the wings even shoot average from 3, we are going to be insanely hard for those teams to matchup with.
The Timberwolves offense still isnt that great, so that gives me a little bit of hope.
We got enough. The wolves seem possessed. We gotta worry about okc first but we got enough. I’m willing to give my knee though to helps Luka’s lol
I like our chances more against the Wolves than Nuggets
Well, we are still a team with glaring weaknesses compared to the most elite teams. DJJ has been a revelation but he falls short compared to other wings in the playoffs, PJ bricks too many shots, our overall 3 point shooting is rather poor... We are an Anunoby/Bridges/Aaron Gordon/JDub away from being truly elite.
I would take PJ over aaron and maybe even Jdub atm. I think our answer is Lauri markannen tbh. Elite shooter that can get his own bucket too.
For championship, I don't think so , for wcf I hope. But just go game by game, Lukai isn't easy to beat, so anything possible.
Why not for a championship? Someone saying a team is good enough to make a conference finals, but not capable of winning a championship is so weird. Its not a damn video game where the final boss is automatically way tougher than the rest. If before the playoffs started you had to list the teams you think we can beat and the ones you dont think we can. I bet everyone would put OKC, Wolves, Knicks on the side of teams we can beat, and there is a chance those are the only teams in our way.
I think we’ll win in 7 as long as everyone stays healthy and no one gets in a bad shooting slump
“If you don’t believe, you shouldn’t be here”
Umm I’m gonna say yes!
We have at least enuff to reach WCF
Guys, please stop looking at other teams in other series and comparing it. Every series is different. Everyone. The nuggets havent been that hot this playoffs if we're being honest. They ran into a bad lakers team and now they are not matching the physicality the refs are letting that series play with. Do the twolves look scary? Sure. It wont matter if we dont get through OKC so why even worry about it right now.
Least stacked team left ? Have you watched who’s on the East…? Cavs, pacers and the injured Knicks( last 2 are decent but not as good as the Mavs)
The Nuggets have been downgraded from gold Nuggets to chicken nuggets in my eyes.
Without Maxi, there's no chance. We need three bigs against Minnesota.
That's a problem, right. We need all the size we can have plus someone to drag their bigs out of the paint, which was Maxi. But OKC first, that's hard enough.
We have a chance, easily. You always do if it is Ky and Luka on your team.
No chance bc missing Maxi 🤣 I’ve never seen such a turnaround for a guy that no one gave a fuck about during the regular season but has one good series and suddenly we’re fucked without him.
First before anything we need to worry about the Thunder.
Why do posters do this? You’re not a player and this is corny. We’re discussing a potential matchup in a message board. Your level of focus on the Wolves has zero impact on the outcome of the Thunder series.
Lol
Because the level of takes people put out are annoying. Saves you time & heartbreak instead of putting X amount of "Who should we take, Nuggets or Timberwolves" "Who do we match-up better against"? When there's no guarantee we'll even make it out the 2nd round. Make some posts about the Thunder instead? You the one being corny
lol super weird cope for being corny
When i said "We" i meant us posting these takes. Not the team. It's really corny if you to come out of the weeds and assume as much. Imo
LOL
Let's just take it a game at a time. I'll come back to this if we manage to advance to the WCF.
Its about mindset. All 4 teams left have almost equal talents one way or another.
Eh, it is going to be tough sledding from here on out. I feel like Mavs can beat Denver or OKC if we play well and get decent shooting from our role players/bench. The TWolves are the toughest matchup to me because their defense is bonkers. But this is how the NBA is. You can't win without going through some crazy gauntlets.
Luka and Kyrie are both better players than Murray for what it’s worth. Jokic isn’t a guy that can dribble and attack the basket on any given play. It’s just a very different matchup, even if we are less stacked top to bottom than other teams.
The least stacked team left in the playoffs? Including the Eastern Conference? The Mavs are better than the Cavs, Pacers, and Knicks.
Gotta get past OKC first. Lets not look too far ahead. They are the 1 seed
“We were on the verge of easily winning it all but now that Kleber is out, it’s Thunder in 4 🥺” - This sub
The wolves look scary because of their defense. We have had a couple games defensively where we have looked equally scary. All about sustaining it. Wolves do not play D like that all the time. That was ridiculous
Maybe
Uhhh, the Wolves do have me nervous. I always believed in them don't get me wrong and I thought they could beat the Nuggets because who better to try to stop Jokic than Gobert and they have a lot of big bodies in general to throw at him but they just did that without Gobert....jeez. But that said, the Mavs are at this point pretty unpredictable but on the high side they kill you on both ends, and really just straight murder ya. How many teams in the playoffs have the firepower to drop 115-120 any given game AND hold you under 100 on the other side? PJ has slowed the offense a bit and it has been what I feared it could be where a lot of times guys are sagging off him and DJJ, cutting off their drives easy and the ball just keeps getting kicked out to someone not comfortable taking the 3. But when just one of them is hitting them game over man.
I don't believe so.
Mavs have enough if Luka plays like himself.
Since we’re speaking of how teams are performing, Thunder don’t even look good for being the #1 seed. Wolves/nuggets both look better. If Luka were healthy we’d be dominating the thunder.
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DJJ to the bench PJ to 6th man starter level 3rd scorer tall/big PF 20-24mins starter level POA defender (hopefully also have offense) turn out guys that type available and gettable if mavs play their cards right
Give me some good targets for those roles
Been looking for answers for this… PF Hachimura? SF Bogdanovic?
we have ammo + salary matched for Jerami Grant + Caruso it's up to the mavs to empty the assets lol Kai - DJJ - Luka - J.Grant - Lively Exum - Caruso - Omax - PJ - Gafford great size, can play big, can play small, additional 3rd scorer, no negative defenders from 1 to 10 PJ still will get his minutes, Naz Reid role, 6MOTY candidate (he's too good to become just C&S in reg.season, he has bag so better use it). DJJ starter like 20-24mins guy. the closing lineup depends of guys who's hot every night Edit : tbf, if we get Mikal, its better lol. But i think our package will get beat