Jokic great offensive player not great on the defensive end. I would our centers after controlling the rebound take off down court. Make Jokic run the whole game. There bread butter is the pick and roll with Jokic and Murray. If we play intense like against OKC we might just sweep them. I said in 5 Blazers. They have know rim proctecter when you bring Jokic out from the basket. I think all our bigs can bring him out.
We were the much better team towards the end of the year and were more impressive in our first round series vs a better team. Talent is pretty even, kinda worried about the boards if Enes can't go. But ultimately, it'll come down to Jokic vs. Dame. Think both teams don't have a great answer. They'll get aggressive with Jokic in pnr vs Dame and CJ and Millsap is savvy zoning up and playing 2 on the back line. Harkless and Chief's shooting/cutting (like always) will be very important. Nice thing about this year's Blazers though is that Curry and Hood give us options to both spread the floor and get a bit more play making out there if the offense slows. Hopefully Hood can find some confidence in his spot 3. With Jokic, I think you force him to be a scorer. You live with his pnp 3. Not shooting it great this year. Don't think you even rotate to him with how well Craig is shooting it. Also can lay off a little in their 2 man game stuff to provide help on Murray/Harris. You can go under on them at times too. Decent shooters off the dribble, but not scary and normally not their first instinct. Very hot and cold, especially Murray. Takes a lot of Jokic's playmaking opportunities away. If Zach and Meyers can shoot the 3 and make solid decisions out of pnr, I think we have a great shot. Makes us pretty tough to guard and I'm not sure Denver will be able to keep up. Their offense struggled the last stretch of the year and it carried over to the playoffs for large portions against a pretty poor Spurs defense. Go Blazers.
Im mostly concerned about Style of play. Denver passes well, moves without the ball well and I think at times moe and aminu struggle in team defense and can get caught ball watching. We need them to be really locked in.
I think you could go under with Murray in the PNR because his strength is his mid range game. But Harris that might not be wise.
They will be much harder than the Thunder. They have respectful hardworking players that are undervalued a lot like us. Total opposite of the Thunder. I'm rooting for us but thinking it will go to game 7.
It will all depend on Kanter's shoulder. If he can go, he'll make Jokic work on defense. Spurs didn't make him work on D at all and Kanter's physicality should take a toll. Jokic's conditioning has always been a question.
I hope our guys get there a day or two early so that they can assimilate to the altitude. I have no idea about who is gonna win this series, but the Nuggets are no joke. Certainly better than the Thunder. Game 1 should be very telling about how the series is going to go. I hope we're ready.
If we bring the same intensity as we did the against the Thunder we have a good shot. The Bench is going to be the key to this series especially from Leonard and Collins.
Unfortunately, I'm not expecting much from either one of them. A few rebounds, perhaps, but not much else.
I live in Denver currently and I'm happy I'll get to see the Blazers in person in the playoffs this year! Got my tickets to game 1!
I think people who are worried about how we will handle Jokic and Milsap should think about how worried the Nuggets should be about Dame and CJ. I actually think Aminu will do a good job on Milsap and Jokic is going to get his but so will Dame and CJ. The entire series was close with them this season but this is the playoffs and it's a totally different animal. I think we have the edge in experience and overall talent. Jokic will likely have a helluva series and we'll beat them in 6.
I’m concerned about the penetration of their guards. Nurkic’s injury is a big hit. We need to stop penetration, and make them jumpshooters. I can live with a jumpshooting Joker.
