ColdCocking | Hornets

398 | 8 hours ago

Aaron Gordon is the most synchronized player with Jokic on the team.

He’s free points off of Jokic’s passes, and he plays defense in the post.

ImAShaaaark | Supersonics

94 | 7 hours ago

and he plays defense in the post.

Which is the big difference maker, since Jokic doesn’t and without him their starting lineups are janky as fuck with 4 perimeter players and a center who can’t protect the rim, since none of their backup PFs or centers are good enough to get regular minutes.

HowBen

27 | 7 hours ago

Im interested in why Peyton Watson cant replicate at least part of Gordon’s defensive value.

Watson is in some ways even more of a defensive specialist than Gordon; he’s certainly the better shot blocker, but clearly there are things Gordon does that Watson isnt able to replicate

internallylinked | Hawks

67 | 6 hours ago

He does replicate some of it, but him and Gordon have completely different body types.

Gordon can (at least he could before injuries in last 2 years) legit guard 1-5, he’s beefy and quick.

PWat is more lean, high jumper, probably can guard only 1-4 because he is not beefy enough, but also more suspect as the main POA defender when defending guards. Great blocker though.

danjustin | Nuggets

6 | 4 hours ago

Mostly Watson is too lean currently.

I think he adds a lot of the same value, but remember he missed time too.

SignificantMoose6482 | Nuggets

6 | 2 hours ago

All their PF missed time throughout the yr and damn near all of them at one time for a stretch.

JiveHawk | Bulls

1 | an hour ago

Watson is a good 30 lbs lighter

oldasshit | Nuggets

1 | 24 minutes ago

Watson doesn’t have enough bulk to bang with bigs down in the paint. Gordon does. That’s the main difference. Watson is a better shot blocker.

LosAngeLukaGOAT | Cote D'Ivoire

10 | 7 hours ago

The disrespect to Zeke is wild!

ImAShaaaark | Supersonics

13 | 6 hours ago

Dude is a pretty good shot blocker, but it’s pretty telling that he can’t even get regular minutes when their starting PF has been out for ²⁄₃ of the season and they desperately need someone to fill that role.

ViciousMihael

7 | 6 hours ago

Agree, but PWat replaced Gordon as a starter until he got hurt and was practically playing like an all star.

LosAngeLukaGOAT | Cote D'Ivoire

3 | 5 hours ago

It’s joke answer, he had a couple of serviceable games this season and this is pretty much his best season since he signed that contract lol.

ImAShaaaark | Supersonics

5 | 4 hours ago

I figured, but I thought it was worth clarifying that blocks and steals aren’t a proxy for good defense. AG has one of the lower rates of blocks and steals on his team but anyone who has any idea what they are watching can tell he is by far the most impactful defender they’ve got.

Sharcbait | Timberwolves

5 | 5 hours ago

The Wolves defensive strategy against the Nuggets in the past has been, Jokic is gonna shred us no matter what we do, so just play him straight up and take away Gordon and (MPJ) the other role players.

Federal-Cod-742

208 | 8 hours ago

Every comment is gonna be “teams are better with their starter playing” but specifically Aaron Gordon might be the most swing, X factor player in the league. His game compliments Jokic and Murray perfectly, with his specialty being defense, rim running, dunking and 3s. The perfect role player to play defense, bring that intensity and cover their stars flaws. This is different than if any teams starter went down. AG is the heart of this team.

Ok_Breakfast7588

89 | 8 hours ago

He’s their Derrick White.

nbaistheworst

47 | 7 hours ago

Shooting 6% better from three. Where did DW’s outside shot go?

SteamingHotChocolate | Celtics

29 | 7 hours ago

2nd option, no JT etc etc

The_Donovan | UTA

6 | 6 hours ago

Weirdly enough his 3pt% has gone down since JT has returned. He’s shooting 2.0/6.5 from 3 per game for a 30.9% clip in 17 games since Tatum returned on March 6th (source). Probably just small sample size issues but he might just be having a rough shooting year, maybe a nagging injury hurting his shooting?

Mightyorc2 | Raptors

3 | 6 hours ago

It’s almost definitely just sample size lol. In February-April 2022 Precious Achiuwa shot 43% from three and raptors fans thought he was going to make OG Anunoby expendable. Since then he hasn’t eclipsed 30% in a season. 3p% is just like that.

Kennyc1234 | Wizards

1 | 5 hours ago

Tari Eason was shooting damn near 50% from 3 for the first half of this year and then he hit one of the worst shooting slumps there has ever been and now his season average from 3 is 35.8%.

SteamingHotChocolate | Celtics

0 | 6 hours ago

Doesn’t seem to be an injury and I haven’t really been paying exceptionally close attention to the pre and post JT splits. Probably more of a continuation of whatever yips he’s had since the season started

nbaistheworst

1 | 6 hours ago

It’s weird watching him miss wide open threes so badly after the past couple of seasons in Boston. Hoping he will lock in now that Tatum is back.

No-Signature8815

1 | 3 hours ago

He’s the most overrated conspiracy theorist in the league

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

1 | 3 hours ago

He’s gotten tossed a lot of hand grenades, this season

His touch has also taken a step back, no doubt, hope he fixes it. But it’s not as big of a decline as it looks

nicholaschubbb

1 | 3 hours ago

Also Im pretty sure Gordon only takes pretty much wide open looks.

Hard to compare percentages for Gordon to players who have more realistic instructions of when to shoot the 3

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

1 | 3 hours ago

For three-pointers, definitely, almost always very open looks. He will take some contested turnaround middies, I will say. But from distance, he’s definitely a standup shooter

So yup, context matters

Pleasestoplyiiing

1 | an hour ago

To the studio where the moon landing was shot.

OyeCorazon | Nuggets

21 | 6 hours ago

Jokic is the Brain, Murray is the Soul, and AG is the Heart of this team

QuileGon-Jin | Thunder

24 | 4 hours ago

Braun is the Butt, Cam Johnson is the Ballsack, and Peyton Watson is the Hawg of this team

ChristianLesniak | Nuggets

3 | 3 hours ago

Voltron was also my sexual awakening

SnooDonuts9093

1 | 17 minutes ago

Dont forget Zeke “the taint” Nnaji

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

1 | 3 hours ago

Nah, Murray is definitely deez nuts

And I mean that as a compliment

supert0426

11 | 5 hours ago

Aaron Gordon is the best third-best player on any team in the league. Guys like Derrick White, Chet Holmgren, Reaves, Mobley, and Stephon Castle are close but Gordon is the best of any of them at contributing to winning, and the one you miss most when he’s out.

Federal-Cod-742

1 | 3 hours ago

I could get down w that. Thats a really good group of players. Would a team full of 3rd options be the title favorite?

Castle/White/Reaves/Mobley/Chet/AG would be a great team

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

2 | 3 hours ago

Would a team full of 3rd options be the title favorite?

Castle/White/Reaves/Mobley/Chet/AG would be a great team

Honestly a fun question. They’re not the favorites, but a very solid chance they could go on a 2004 Pistons style run. Do they get Draymond Green, too?

(especially if they could add more players. If they go up to 15, that would comically be the best bench in NBA history)

supert0426

1 | an hour ago

They might be contenders just because in this hypothetical, they are stealing the 3rd best player from all the contendors. Unless you are cloning these players such that Denver gets to keep AG while a second AG plays for this hypothetical team, in which case idk.

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

1 | an hour ago

keep AG while a second AG …

Yeah, a lot of us have had that fantasy

SnooDonuts9093

1 | 16 minutes ago

I want Caruso coming off the bench for that squad

AskAboutMySecret | Brazil

1 | an hour ago

how much would it cost to construct this roster

bdybwyi

7 | 5 hours ago

I still think our 2022-2023 championship starting 5 is the most perfect balance of players you can ask for. Miss you KCP

Osmarku | Nuggets

3 | 5 hours ago

KCP could actually navigate screens on defense and chase opposing guards unlike rest of our team

spizcraft | Nuggets

3 | 5 hours ago

KCP guards Curry better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He almost, keyword almost, makes it look relatively easy like why doesn’t everybody else just navigate every screen perfectly.

Federal-Cod-742

1 | 3 hours ago

This is how I felt about Tony Allen in the past. Not comparing KCP’s defense to Tony at all. But Tony was amazing at navigating screens and contesting Kobe/KD/Paul Pierce/PG etc.

greywolf2155 | Supersonics

2 | 3 hours ago

I still think our 2022-2023 championship starting 5 is the most perfect balance of players you can ask for. Miss you KCP

That’s such a crazy lineup, because it doesn’t have a single player who’s good at everything. Or, to phrase it more critically, while every player had at least one or two things he does at an elite level, everyone also had at least one flaw

But they just matched up so perfectly, one guy’s elite skills covering up another’s flaws. Plus the color gang (Brown, Braun and Green) off the bench. What a lineup

Federal-Cod-742

1 | 3 hours ago

That team was more of an offensive buzz saw to me personally but the 2022 Celtics are an elite team on both ends 1-5 with KP healthy

viking_ | Nuggets

3 | 4 hours ago

Aaron Gordon might be the most swing, X factor player in the league

Certainly among players who are a 3rd-option type.

Federal-Cod-742

1 | 3 hours ago

Oh for sure. I would argue he’s peak Draymond levels of impactful, but a better scorer and worse passer

bwrca

-1 | 6 hours ago

Closest comp to the prime Curry Klay Dray triangle. Between the 3 you had the 2 best jump shooters in the league, 2 of the best defenders in the league and 2 of the best playmakers in the league.

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

-13 | 8 hours ago

This is different than if any teams starter went down

Alright well how many of their wins came against teams that also had key players out due to injury? Let’s not just focus on the Nuggets missing a key player and then act like other teams they beat didn’t have a key player out. Hell if you’re gonna do that then you can’t call OKC champs because Halliburton got injured in the most important game of the season. Injuries happen man, it just sucks when it does happen

15b17 | Thunder

19 | 7 hours ago

This isn’t about how many of their wins are legit, it’s saying that the nuggets are better with AG.

AG is back now, so they will be better in the playoffs.

Scared or something? You sound scared

XiaoRCT | Thunder

1 | 7 hours ago

He’s pointing out something that makes sense dude, of course Denver is a good team that gets better with AG, the stuff he’s bringing up is still reasonable and should be taken into consideration anyway

AM1232 | Nuggets

3 | 5 hours ago

Should we discount all of Denver’s losses then when they had people rotating in and out of street clothes from December till February? It’s a silly point to raise here.

XiaoRCT | Thunder

-2 | 5 hours ago

No, but we should take into account that other teams also had very impactful players like AG not being available often this season if we are going to say he’s the most swing, X factor player in the league lol

AM1232 | Nuggets

2 | 4 hours ago

They also had them when AG and others were missing for Denver in those matchups at various points. It’s a ridiculous comment that isn’t worth a millisecond of thought.

[deleted]

-5 | 7 hours ago

[deleted]

Background_Creme41

2 | 7 hours ago

This is the one time the thunder fan is correct what are you waffling about

joomla00

0 | 7 hours ago

Everyone acts tough when they up

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

-9 | 7 hours ago

Scared wtf? Lol you scared yall aren’t real champs because Indiana didn’t have their best player?

kimmellal | Supersonics

10 | 7 hours ago

Indiana literally played 6.25 games with Haliburton. OKC played 7 games with Jalen Williams who had a broken wrist. We are not going to listen to asterik talk.

In 2014 the Spurs beat OKC in the WCF when Serge Ibaka was hurt. Should we all start saying the 2014 Spurs championship has an asterik because the best defensive player on their closest competition was hurt the entire series?

What about the Finals that year didn’t Dwade play on a bum knee? You aren’t a serious person if you think that OKC is an illegitimate champion because Haliburton got hurt. Injuries happen. It’s part of the game unfortunately.

ingvarok

4 | 7 hours ago

I don’t know. I remember a certain recent game played with Gordon on the field guarding some 7 foot 5 dude, where Nuggets won. Also that team had all their key players too.

ForneauCosmique | Spurs

-1 | 6 hours ago

Are you saying the Nuggets are a good team??

SplitOk186

45 | 8 hours ago

It makes sense because they have a ton of offense but Gordon is their main consistent defensive anchor

Without Gordon the rest of the roster around Jokic becomes a bit redundant sure they can put up a million points with Jokic and Murray but they’re also going to give up a million points so it’s never easy

IcyCity3228 | Serbia

42 | 8 hours ago

If healthy they are good. Which could be said for any team.

Significant_Hair2549

18 | 8 hours ago

true except for the nets xD.

A lot of the current playoff teams would have been bonkers if healthy the whole season.

OKC, Celtics, Lakers, Rockets, 76ers and Dubs should be much better. I wont say anything about the teams with big in season trades that changed a lot of things for a team.

Surprisingly tho the nuggets actually played solid when jokic was injured. I think they had an 11-6 record which is really good for a team missing their mvp candidate

ilikekittens2018 | Nuggets

13 | 6 hours ago

It was 10-6, we pulled off some incredibly scrappy wins like beating the Celtics and even beating Philly with our top 7 rotation players out. The losses were BAD bad though, we got blown out by the Nets lol. Our net rating for the stretch was like -2.1 and that told the real story, it was a fight for survival where we got lucky to mostly play bad teams that month.

sunpar1 | Nets

2 | 8 hours ago

We haven’t been healthy since December when we had the best defensive rating in the league and went 7-3…

DeepCleaner42

-3 | 5 hours ago

Almost like denver fans only watch denver games

danjustin | Nuggets

5 | 4 hours ago

I think that devalues how good Denver is with their full team.

This team set the record for the beat start in franchise history and had some crazy streak of double digit leads in every game (even in their losses). Any rating system (ret rating, etc) was showing that team is all-time great (in fairness, so is this OKC team).

This isn’t all teams are good…it’s Denver is elite and combined with OKC, are two of the best teams of this era.

Now can Denver get back to that and stay at that…TBD…

But to say “oh yes all teams are this good when healthy” is completely missing the point of the OP

DeepCleaner42

-3 | 4 hours ago

Only 2 teams huh. No more excuses in the playoffs

danjustin | Nuggets

4 | 4 hours ago

Yes, if healthy, if Denver loses to anyone but OKC in game 7 it’s a failure.

nbaistheworst

41 | 7 hours ago

The Nuggets are peaking at the right time. If they don’t have any more injuries in the playoffs they could get their 2nd title.

back2ya | Knicks

28 | 6 hours ago

feel like theyre being slept on a bit. Jokic’s unreal ofc but Jamal is all nba this season & now AG is back

OUEngineer17 | Nuggets

10 | 4 hours ago

Yeah, browsing this sub, it feels like only Vegas believes in the Nuggets.

Most of all, I’m surprised by how much respect the Spurs are getting. When OKC had their first really good year, noone believed in them.

ShowdownValue

1 | 4 hours ago

I was told they peaked too early

IT_CHAMP | Spurs

28 | 8 hours ago

yeah iirc okc have only lost 2 games with their starting 5 playing.

hydropenguin69 | Thunder

24 | 6 hours ago

Out of what, like 8 games? Honestly I feel like it could be less than that.

Fluffy_Fondant_

17 | 8 hours ago

Teams without stars do bad

holdenfords | Nuggets

15 | 7 hours ago

he’s a role player and glue guy. murray and jokic are the stars

btun88 | Thunder

3 | 8 hours ago

More at 11

browntown20 | Bulls

2 | 8 hours ago

Wemby is good

LongtimeLurkersacc

1 | 3 hours ago

how’s the weather ollie?

EsotericPotato | Timberwolves

17 | 6 hours ago

AG is probably the most important non-superstar in basketball considering his overall skill level and his perfect fit next to Jokic. His health is the x-factor for this series; if he’s fully good to go, wolves have no shot.

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

-15 | 5 hours ago

lol ok pal. Counting out you team like that is low key pathetic. Get rid of team flair. Last time I checked we beat this tram in the playoffs two years ago with their current core, not to mention are bench is also way better with bones and ayo.

Wolves absolutely have a shot, fully healthy or not.

TheNaskgul | Nuggets

15 | 5 hours ago

You had a completely different team and were fully healthy tho?

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

-6 | 5 hours ago

And? Do you not think the nuggets were heavily favoured in that series the same way they are now? They were literally the champs the year before lmao.

There is a big difference saying “wolves have no shot” and “the series will be close but I think the nuggets will take it”.

Buddy is a wolves fan and simping for the nuggets. Actually pathetic.

We also weren’t fully healthy btw. Gobert entered the series questionable with a back injury, NAW got a pretty bad shoulder injury in that series and KAT was coming off a meniscus injury.

The nuggets injury consisted of a hammy for Murray. Cry me a fucking river with injuries bro

TheNaskgul | Nuggets

7 | 5 hours ago

Ok but we’re talking about this year. You have no KAT, no NAW, and ant is/has been hurt

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

-6 | 5 hours ago

Ant is fine and has plenty of rest. Randle was excellent last year in the playoffs, and while we have no NAW our bench is deeper and Ayo has been playing great.

The point is that saying the wolves have “no shot” because AG is healthy is stupid af especially coming from a Timberwolves fan. Can’t believe I actually have to explain this.

ShowdownValue

4 | 4 hours ago

Only one person is crying here ironically

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

-1 | 4 hours ago

Can’t actually debate my comment straight up so you resort to looking like a goof. No flair either. 🤡

EsotericPotato | Timberwolves

4 | 5 hours ago

Rooting for a team and having realistic expectations for that team are two entirely different things. Of course I want them to win, but the reality is that the nuggets are a lot better / deeper than when they last met in the playoffs, and the Timberwolves simply have fewer levers to pull on defense to slow them.

They don’t have a defender like Nickeil coming off the bench to tag in on Murray, they don’t have KAT to battle with Jokic, and the can’t have Rudy cheat off of AG to roam because he’s developed into a very good shooter. Those three things alone fundamentally change this matchup compared to 2024. There are things the Timberwolves do differently/better than 2024 that will make it more difficult for Denver too, but if you actually watch NBA basketball you know that Denver is just a different tier of team than MN.

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

2 | 5 hours ago

Denver is a bottom ¹⁄₃ defensive team this year.

They are one of the slowest paced teams in the league.

Our bench has changed since we played them, it has tons of speed and ability to score in transition with bones and ayo. We are a deep team and more deep than last year.

Certainly there are things that we can do that they cannot defend/keep up with.

I’d encourage you to be more positive. We will have a solid gameplan and I expect us to run their unathletic team out of the arena.

EsotericPotato | Timberwolves

3 | 4 hours ago

Unfounded positivity is a good basis for disappointment. I’ve watched a lot of NBA basketball this season, Timberwolves and otherwise, and I just flat out have not seen anything that leads me to think they can win a 7-game series against any of these top three teams. You’re entitled to your opinion and I’m entitled to mine. I hope that in a few weeks you can come back here and gloat about being right, I really do, but I don’t see it and moreover I don’t think you’ve articulated a compelling argument to the contrary.

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

1 | 4 hours ago

lol a “compelling argument to the contrary”. It is obvious you have just made up your mind. I could absolutely write a million compelling words to make you understand why we can win this series but it will fall on deaf ears.

EsotericPotato | Timberwolves

5 | 4 hours ago

Can win is so different than what is mathematically likely based on an 82 game sample size of these two particular teams playing basketball this season and what they’ve proven they can and cannot do.

Yeah, if Ant drops 33-5-5, if we can keep Rudy on the floor for 35 minutes a night, if Naz and Jaden are fully healthy and attain their approximate playoff averages, if guys like Ayo/TSJ/Bones can aggressively push the pace and run Denver’s bench units off the floor, if the team can magically figure out how to rotate on defense and not fall asleep off ball after a full season of not doing so, if the team can not have 15-20 turnovers a game, if Ant/Jaden/Ayo are up to keeping Murray from going nuclear. Yeah they can win.

The body of work they have put together this season suggests that the adherence to gameplan, attention to detail, and playing cohesive team basketball is not something they’re willing or able to do for more than a few quarters at a time. That’s just a fact.

pollinium | MIN

1 | 5 hours ago

it took 7 and an epic comeback

they’re better than 2024 and we’re worse

I’ll be cheering for the guys, but it’s certainly an uphill battle

Neemzeh | Timberwolves

3 | 5 hours ago

Of course we are the underdogs, I never suggested otherwise but to say we “have no shot” is legitimately pathetic and not understanding how playoff basketball or matchups work.

OyeCorazon | Nuggets

13 | 6 hours ago

Jokic + Murray = Elite duo Jokic + Murray + Gordon = LEGENDARY trio

musicalpants999 | Lakers

7 | 5 hours ago

Nuggets clicked at the perfect time. As a Lakers fan I am very jealous. As an OKC hater I’m hopeful they can take out the Thunder if they end up against each other.

spiralism | Nuggets

5 | 7 hours ago

What’s the record when you factor in the starting 5 plus Watson being available? Just out of curiosity.

IcyTie9

6 | 3 hours ago

AG is definitely the most important part of the squad after jokic

every single team in the league, specially in the playoffs has only 1 gameplan against jokic, put 2 guys on jokic duty for 40min and do not let him play, if AG is there to cut and demand attention because hes very physical the plan just falls short, and thats not even accounting for the guy being a great defender

Sanmonov | Nuggets

2 | 2 hours ago

The team functionally doesn’t have enough playable forwards, or any real power forwards with size other than AG. That doesn’t help. Major oversight in team building.

Artimusjones88 | Raptors

3 | 7 hours ago

Past performance doesn’t dictate future performance.

Daconvix | Knicks

2 | 6 hours ago

Spurs really should’ve won that last game to have them face OKC in the second round 🤧

KartFacedThaoDien | West

4 | 4 hours ago

I’m a thunder fan and I have no idea why the Spurs did that. I think OKC will beat the Nuggets in a playoff series. But let’s say the Spurs make it to the WCF.

They can beat OKC because they are damn good. But if the Nuggets and Spurs meet in the western conference semifinals I’m not sure if the Spurs can win.

idobi | Nuggets

-7 | 6 hours ago

I hope OKC gets knocked out, but I also don’t want my team to face them in the playoffs. I wonder how many dirty fouls Dort is involved in. We should have a Dort Dirt tracker for the playoffs.

HarryPauler | Timberwolves

3 | 5 hours ago

It won’t happen probably, but I want my team to go in and beat the piss out of okc. Ya know. To exorcise demons.

waffle-winner | Spurs

2 | 5 hours ago

Cool guess we’ll die then*?? (If we make it out of the first round).

Scaa4aar

2 | 3 hours ago

Can’t wait for series to start. I don’t really care who wins, i just want to enjoy playoffs bball in the West !

SerenityAvalon | Nuggets

2 | 3 hours ago

Insert Jerma ripping shirt off to reveal an extra shirt underneath of Aaron Gordon meme here

Gordon is such a badass

thesavant | Cavaliers

1 | 4 hours ago

Pssh, so they won the same number of games with him as without him /s

ForgotPasswordNewAcc

1 | an hour ago

So 7-4 when Gordon plays but not all other starters?

goodfriedchicken | Raptors

-1 | 5 hours ago

Who cares? We’ll just have Lu Dort or bald mamba dive into his weak ass knees in g1. Thunder in 6 #winner mentality

[deleted]

-6 | 8 hours ago

[deleted]

Durden93

8 | 8 hours ago

You’ll be fine as long as you have your foul merchant

The Denver Nuggets post a 20-5 record when all 5 starters play, good for 66 Win Pace. 27-9 when Aaron Gordon Plays, 27-19 without