“You deserve this. You, listening to this show right now, you deserve this moment. Because the Denver Nuggets are going to the NBA Finals.” – Matt Moore, Action Network, co-host, Locked on Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets completed the sweep to eliminate the Los Angeles Lakers. They’re headed to their first-ever NBA Finals. As we have in each elimination game, we’ll dedicate this report card to the entire series. Nikola Jokić – A+ Jokić was the best player on the floor for four games. He was a monster in transition, inhaling defensive rebounds and…
Ball Arena is an Unassailable Fortress Jamal Murray – A Even Jamal Murray knew the Denver Nuggets took the longer route to victory. By his admission, things might have been easier if he had hit his shots in the second and third quarters. But as winning time approached, Murray felt his back scrape against a wall. There was nowhere to…
master key (noun)definition – a key that opens several locks, each of which also has its own key. As someone who may have often been asked to spend a little extra time after school on occasion, possibly due to a little mischief, I often found myself making friends with the school janitors, who were usually hard at work by the…
Nikola Jokić – A+ The 2023 Denver Nuggets are made of something different than previous iterations. They’ve taken hits, weathered storms together, and refitted many times. The ship that left the harbor long ago is still recognizable. Same captain. Same name. But she’s made of new wood now, with a primarily new and wiser crew on board to help her…
The Nuggets are going back to Denver and the Western Conference Finals The series is over. The Denver Nuggets are the first team to advance out of the second round after sending a loud message to the Suns and the conference in Game 6. You might not fear the Denver Nuggets, but you should. As we did in round…
“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.”- Theodore Roosevelt If the former Bull Moose Party leader knows anything about anything, these Denver Nuggets and their fanbase must have a lot of belief, because for better and for worse, the team is halfway there. At the close of last season, and with the looming returns of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter,…
Ball Arena is a fortress Nikola Jokić – A Jokić opened the game 2-6 from the field, permeating existential confusion among the Nuggets faithful. Wouldn’t you know it, he finished the game an efficient 12-20 from the floor, including 2-3 from deep. He missed just one of his nine shots in the second half. His second half was spectacular. He…
The Nuggets whiffed on a golden opportunity in the valley. Now, they must hold serve as the series returns to the Mile High City. Nikola Jokić – A+ Jokić and Booker are in a duel for the ages. While there’s no shortage of additional storylines or key players in the series, the two best players in the postseason are taking…
The Phoenix Suns punched back in game three behind a career night from Devin Booker, an aggressive foul-baiting adjustment from Kevin Durant, and the tough interior presence of DeAndre Ayton….Jock Landale. The Australian big man has had two positive impact games in a row for the Suns but game three may be the one that forces the Denver Nuggets to…
It’s Denver’s turn to respond after Devin Booker’s brilliant performance Nikola Jokić – A There are plenty of nits to pick in Game 3’s report card. A bottom line should be established before they’re opened up and examined — Denver won their minutes with Jokić on the floor. He was brilliant in nearly 42 minutes of action, dropping an efficient…
In the moments the Nuggets had salted a game away this season, and when the rookie saw the floor, he did a few things so few players bother with in scrub time. Christian passed the ball. He stole the ball. He blocked shots and passes. And he took the shots that were open, not the ones that might give him a couple points on that night’s stat sheet. He played the basketball he’d been playing ever since his mom was chewing his ass into the passenger seat of their long ride home, and he ate up every lesson. Even Coach Mike was duly impressed.
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“How will the Nuggets defend the Suns?” Nikola Jokić – A+ Nikola Jokić offered a gentle reminder to any who needed it Monday night. He reminded the world why he’s still technically the back-to-back MVP, and the Denver Nuggets are the number-one seed in the Western Conference. This team can win any game, in virtually any style, with 15 on…
Jamal Murray was right in game one when he yelled to the crowd “we’re ready for this.” It was true of their game plan coming into the game and appears to be true more broadly about their readiness to take the next, and perhaps final step towards becoming NBA champions. In this film study deep dive I breakdown the key…
“Jamal Murray lives for this.” – Michael Malone Jamal Murray – A+ If only the Nuggets had Jamal Murray, indeed. Murray returned to the Suns – Nuggets matchup and picked up right where he left off against his favorite opponent. So much has changed on either side of the fence since 27 was last involved, and the Nuggets have spent…
“Thus, arm in arm with thee, I dare defy my century into the lists.”- Friedrich Schiller When Alex English came to the Denver Nuggets in 1979 as a part of a trade for George McGinnis, there were mixed reviews on the swap. McGinnis had been a long time star in the league, especially in Indiana who was thrilled to be…
“I don’t care if it’s 8-seed, 1-seed, all that other BS — to win a series in the playoffs is hard.” – Michael Malone It’s been a long season, folks. And we’re still going. Let’s shake it up for the sake of variety. We’ll grade the Denver Nuggets on their entire series and use Nikola Jokić’s grading scale. It’s 1-5…
Nikola Jokić – A Nikola Jokić posted a monster stat line in a playoff loss. It’s happened before, and it may not be a coincidence. That’s not to say Jokić was doing anything wrong in dropping 43 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists — rather, that might be a symptom of suboptimal offense. Jokić’s teammates weren’t ready to play from…
Michael Porter Jr. – A The story of round one so far is one of maturation. The Nuggets look older, wiser, and better prepared than ever for a deep postseason run. At the heart of that is the maturation of Michael Porter Jr. A once awkward fit in the organization has become the poster boy for their thriving culture. He’s…
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