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The most unthinkable sequence of events is taking place in these playoffs.
This is the heart of a champion even after losing the first 2 games at home. Look at the fight, the hounding defense, absolutely shutting down Karl Towns, especially in the first half.
The Nuggets figured that they couldn’t stop Edwards, so the focus shifted to shutting down the rest of the Timberwolves.
And watch this subtle offensive adjustment for Denver, that completely changes the dynamic.
Aaron Gordon is now the guy that’s taking the ball across half court, taking the load and the pressure off of Jamal Murray.
But it wasn’t just that. Gordon turned into a bull and he was seeing red out there.
He put his head down and went straight to the rim bulldozing through the defense.
By halftime, Gordon was 6 for 6 from the field as Minnesota did not have an answer for him.
And speaking of that, they definitely didn’t have an answer for this either.
Whether it was off of the pick and roll, or just getting to his spots before getting the ball, Jokic was playing his game, similar to game 3. Never in a rush, you see that this is his pace, getting exactly where he wants, and shooting a shot that he’s comfortable with.
If anything, I saw him being more aggressive and assertive.
Denver had a double digit lead for most of the first half, as big as 16 at one point. But Minnesota made a push towards the end of the half, and had a chance to get it to single digits, which would be a huge momentum gain for them. But then, all hell broke loose because.
Unbelievable! What could have been an 8 point deficit, turns into 15 in the blink of an eye.
You see the importance of just 10 seconds in the playoffs. And the Nuggets are all hyped about it, they know that this swing was huge.
And in the second half, Denver exploited the Minnesota defense.
You see that just the previous possession the Nuggets run the exact same play and they got an even easier bucket as Murray walks his way to the rim for the layup.
Jamal carried Denver in the third quarter alongside Gordon who finished the game with 27 points on a mind blowing 11 for 12 shooting from the field.
And in the fourth, it was Nikola’s turn to keep the Timberwolves at distance.
Throughout this entire time, Edwards was going hero mode against the Nuggets, trying to keep his team afloat, and he was absolutely unstoppable.
But he had no help from his teammates, as the champs literally come back from the dead and shock everyone by winning 2 games on the road after everyone counted them out.
On rate game, the app that I’m a part of, we score each game, and I gave this one a 6.9.
I absolutely agree with Alex the great, that if Gordon plays this well, the Nuggets are unbeatable.
Maaan, The playoffs are taking an improbable turn, and it’s not just in this series
After going down 0-2 against the Knicks, This might be the defensive adjustment that could turn the series around. Things completely changed ever since Aaron Nesmith was the primary defensive matchup for Brunson instead of Nembhard. Nesmith literally smothered Brunson on multiple possessions in this game, completely disrupting the flow of the Knicks offense right from the start.
Indiana held Brunson to just 18 points on 6 of 17 shooting from the field and 0 for 5 from downtown. And when you cut the head of the snake, you pretty much finished the job.
The Knicks trio of Brunson, Hart and Divincenzo averaged near 80 points per game in the first 3 games, but last night they were shut down, and combined for only 27. That’s atrocious. And once you start off this bad, then rhythm is very hard to find, as New York simply couldn’t hit a shot in this game.
Meanwhile on the other end…
The Pacers jumped to a 20 point lead in the first 1 quarter. And quite opposite to the Knicks, everyone was making shots on the other end. Indiana shot 45% from downtown and the Knicks were no match with their horrific 7 for 37 outside shooting, so by half time this was a 30 point game and game over.
As Haliburton said it loud and clear that he can’t be guarded.
On rategame, I only gave it a 3.5 and turns out I was right on with how you guys rated it. Download rate game from the link in the description and join me in rating these games.
Now it’s chaos in both of these series. Denver showed us what happens when you doubt the heart of a champion, and you gotta check out what happens when you make Luka Doncic mad.
Watch this video right here. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.