He was absolutely determined to hit one lmao. Normally he takes one or two, and if he doesn't have it doesn't take another for the night. Not tonight though lmao, he was making one, then he could stop.
Malone always preaches to keep shooting if you have a shot, maybe Nikola accepting some of that a bit more tonight. Lately a lot of those he’d try to pull a defender and drive past. I don’t know if he shot because no one came out to him or because it’s the smart play even when you’re 0/4 or 0/5 but are a good 3 pt shooter overall.
(Disclaimer: I only watched the second half of the game)
Every single Bucks offensive possession was the same: the ball is swung over to Giannis, he puts his head down and drives, gets quadruple teamed in the paint, kicks it out softly to a shooter, Denver rotates well on the perimeter, then the Bucks brick a half-contested three as the shot clock is expiring.
Also, the three second-half technical fouls on Milwaukee, along with the two shot-clock buzzer-beating three-pointers by the Nuggets, seemed to have just destroyed Milwaukee's spirit completely.
Yeah there we had a five-point possession where it was a take foul, they took a tech, and we made a three, and that put the lead up to 8 and we didn't look back
Giannis was visibly frustrated and deservingly so, his teammates played like ass. The Nuggets realized during halftime that none of the buck shooters could make anything so they doubled Giannis for the rest of the game and forced the others to do something, which they didn’t. Also Arron Gordon was terrific on defense tonight.
3rd worst shooting performance of the year for the Bucks. Absolutely ice cold. Figured it would be a hard game because it was the second game of a road back to back. Didn't expect them to play one of their worst games of the season though. GG to the Nuggets they dominated.
Bucks open strong but then everybody got frustrated. Lopez got a tech. I think portis got attack. Basically guys defending yogic now that I think about it.
It would be hilarious if somehow by the end of the season the main beef turns into Giannis vs. Jokic or Giannis vs. Embiid instead of Jokic vs. Embiid
I'm definitely starting to see way more Bucks/Nuggets salt recently
I find that surprising. I thought most of us in Nuggets land really liked and appreciated Giannis. Giannis and Jokic are my two favorites in the league.
Because Embiid is now first in the race so 76ers fans have calmed down a bit. All 3 fan bases have been insufferable but on the season as a whole 76ers fans still take the cake and honestly it’s not that close.
I've decided Philly fans are just passionate and critical as hell, but usually are so critical of themselves as well that it's just funny to every fanbase not directly targeted.
There was a that post on /r/nfl the other day of the Philly local throwing shade at Nelson Agholor and the first comment was a list of 5+ other notable incidences -- all of which were hilarious.
I don't know how you can even come close to lumping Nuggets fans in the insufferable category, they've been having shit thrown at them all year long because their guy is averaging a giga efficient triple double and Embiid stans are in shambles over it
It’s funny hearing 76ers fan bitch and moan about how Embiid is disrespected. Dude has BY FAR the worst playoff stats of the 3. To be blunt his playoff stats are borderline atrocious for the standard he’s held to.
Yet, Jokic has been getting ripped all year for his playoff failures. And even Giannis gets dragged for having no skill etc despite doing more than Jokic and Embiid combined in the playoffs.
Bucks fans have been pretty mild tbh because they already got their ring and Giannis got the MVPs. Nuggets fans have been annoying but at the same time this forum and social media in general have spent a minute now posting all his lowlights and dragging him through the mud so what do you want them to do?
What annoys me about 76ers fans is they’re the ones that really drove this MVP debate to become insanely toxic. Now that they’re guy is first they’re acting like it’s Bucks and Nuggets fans being annoying. Lmao no. You lit the house on fire.
There's a massive gap between philly and denver there.
I've said this multiple times, everytime a Philly team is good it makes the discussion around that sport unbearable lmao
Honestly it’s so lame this guy talks shut the first post of the game and then goes MIA after the game.
I was actually at the game and it reminds me of the guy that was sitting behind me and talked shit the whole first quarter then was completely silent the second half of the game. So sad.
MVP talk has been so unnecessarily toxic. It's just been exhausting. Anyone with eyes and a brain can see just how cut and dry this race has been all year. If this game doesn't prove to you that it's not even close, then idk what will. Get on board or shut the fuck up.
Jeff Green deserves it. End of discussion and carry the hell on.
GG Nuggets. GL the rest of the way. Y'all got a nasty offense. Tough loss for the Bucks. 3rd worst shooting performance of the season for the Bucks. Not going to win many games shooting 22%~ from 3. Had some good looks but nothing was dropping.
GG. Segababa in Denver this year is the toughest game of the year, up until our mid season vacation over the last two weeks Denver was the hardest place in the league to play (4 total loses on 8 combined points), and literally no one wins a B2B here.
I am just salty both of our games were rest disadvantaged B2Bs, I want to see these squads go at it in an even situation. Guess we will have to settle for the finals!
As good of a game as this was, being on the road at altitude on second night of a back to back was a bigger factor than a lot of people are going to admit. That being said, a finals matchup between these two teams would be incredible
A classic Bucks game: Giannis dominates in the first half, then the opposition packs the paint and sends everybody on him in the second half and nobody can do anything with the ball or hit a three.
Jokic cooked Lopez in the post, he just so good finishing in the paint. Murray was awesome as well.
GG Nuggets, please beat the 76ers as well.
before the losing streak im pretty sure we had a top 5 defense since the all star break (I want to say it was the best DRTG but not sure which stat it was so dont want to commit) This team can really dial it up defensively as you saw and it leads to brutally efficient fast breaks
Jokic lost the lead in MVP betting odds to Embiid due to the Nuggets losing 4 of 5, even while Jokic was playing well.
This Monday, Jokic has a chance to give Embiid and the Sixers their 4th loss in 5 games. AND... this comes within 2 days of the Nuggets blowing out Giannis and the Bucks by 23 points.
You can't make this stuff up.
RIP u/Zhugo
I feel like this was more of a Patrick Mahomes v Tom Brady type of matchup. Very rarely did Giannis and Jokic go head to head. Embiid and Jokic are in each others space. This was more of a Jokic v Lopez battle.
Good win for the Nuggets. Jokic played great. Can't expect to win many games shooting this poorly on the back end of a back to back.
Gotta be more composed but I think the Bucks were rightfully getting on the refs for a couple of these plays.
Nuggets hit everything just shot the Bucks out of the game.
Not too worried as I felt there were some good signs from the Bucks. This was always going to be a tough game and the Nuggets took care of business. Onto the next one, a lot to look at and improve on from this game.
Thought the first half was super intense, both teams playing extremely hard. The altitude is no joke, and traveling in to play the 2nd night of back to back is tough. Teams often fall off in the 2nd half in that situation.
In terms of the nuggets hitting everything, I think it's worth pointing out that they were slightly below their average from 3 tn
> Not too worried as I felt there were some good signs from the Bucks.
totally agree. People gunna over-react to this game like they do to every game here. Very disappointing game from the Bucks but didn't leave me too worried. They were getting a lot of good looks. I think this was their 3rd worst shooting performance of the season from 3. Just one of those games unfortunately. GG to the nuggets though. They game out with energy and balled the entire game.
There is way too much over-reacting game to game. Denver has been on the other end of some games like this year. Every team this year has. The sky was falling in Nuggets land a week ago.
You guys just got unlucky on those shots and the players got frustrated waayyyyyy too fast, a good amount of those three pointers went in and out which is annoying already but techs for shittalking + shotclock beaters from brown just demolished their spirits, unfortunate since it started out as such a close game
When the Nuggets are locked in this team is absolutely lethal.
I’m sure they’ll shorten their playoff rotation and they’ll have to stay healthy but if they can stick with that starting 5, Brown and Green + filler minutes this is absolutely a title contender which people have started to doubt.
I think Braun is going to be important in any playoff run if we're going to make one. I know he is a rook but kid already has a LOT of poise and defensive IQ.
Yep, it’ll be telling if Malone trusts him. Y’all might get tested right away against a very, very good Lakers team for instance and if he can hold up against LeBron who would 100% target him it’ll go such a long way.
I really hope that Green is not in the playoff rotation. He has some killer highlights every now and then but with the 2 rebounds he picked up tonight, he now has 2 rebounds in his last 73 game minutes.
Nnaji makes a bigger impact, especially on the defensive end, and sets better screens.
Remove green, brown braun zeke. I love jeff, but he's best for to play maybe every second game. Give him plenty of rest in between. We also have vlatko.
Nuggets ramped up the physicality in the second half and also started running. Bucks on a b2b looked a bit too tired to respond. GG bucks fans. I hope we get a series between these teams some time
Look, I’ve got no dawg in this fight. Embiid has been one of my favorite players in the league since he’s been drafted, I think Giannis is the most dominant player in the league but if I had an MVP vote I’d go Jokic. All 3 are special and there’s no wrong answer
Man it’s crazy how everyone just expected Jokic and the nuggets to just roll over in the face of giannis’ greatness, like you guys really have to be reminded every year that Jokic is that dude it’s really a trip.
Jokic +19 while Giannis -15👀👀. Where you at u/zhugo got any more clips today or you in hiding after that one?
Maybe it’s time we start questioning Giannis defence if he’s getting 129 hung on him with two DPOY level teammates. Or his offence for not being able to score enough against the “worst defensive centre ever”
Because they don't want Jokic to get 3 MVPs before Giannis.
I've seen this sort of thing play out in every community. When someone is approaching "your guy" people attack the competition. Happens with Kpop fans, Youtubers, politics, everywhere.
There was lots of talk in the game thread about how bad Jokic's defense tonight was and my reaction the whole time was lIke, then what kind of defense are Milwaukee currently playing against the Nuggets right now.
Think they banned a few Nuggets , Bucks and Sixers flairs last month , no Idea if they are back. There was Nugget fans changing flair to hate on the others 2 bigs and Zhugo(Bucks) highlighs and etc
Expectations on this game based on r/nba posts the past few days: Jokic gonna get exposed on defense again.
What happened this game: Giannis got exposed on offense in the second half.
Looks like building a wall is still the most effective answer to Giannis
It’s always been the same conclusion: the wall only works of the team shoots like shit.
Today they shot 25% from 3–some could blame the B2B but Khris and Pat have been very streaky. The question is always whether or not they shoot that poorly over a 7-game series, that will be the deciding factor.
That’s why reactionary takes are so lame. Shooting variance happens. A 7 game series would be insane.
I’m pulling for a Nuggs/Bucks finals. Two small markets with superstars that care more about family than fame. Legit team basketball with very little bullshit. Other than Grayson Allen, likable rosters top to bottom.
Giannis has already shown he can beat the build a wall strategy by passing to the open man… the Bucks missed so many open 3s, that’s what decided the game.
Giannis had a sweet, highlight-worthy drive and dish to a wide open corner shooter that I was certain was going to be a swish and the guy just clanked it.
> What happened this game: Giannis got exposed on offense in the second half.
Any team that builds their team around a player that drives and can find the open man for the 3 will struggle when those players shoot 25% from there. It doesn't matter if it is Giannis or LeBron.
I was told that attacking Jokic gets you an easy layup every time. Are the Bucks brain dead or something? How’d they only have 106 points against that traffic cone smh.
We all know about it, and we all see it. It's obvious. Nobody ever wants to admit it, but it's there.
People on this subreddit hate u/Zhugo.
The first question to ask: why? Why do you all hate him? The obvious answer: you didn't watch him in his prime. Likely explanation: I know that most of you are around 14 or 15 years old. That means you only got into r/nba in the last couple days. So you never watched Zhugo in his prime. And because you didn't watch him in his prime, you try to compensate for that by diving into stat sheets and analyzing box scores. But here's the thing: hating isn't done on Excel spreadsheets.
The moment somebody brings up "pick and roll" or "offense" I know they know nothing about basketball. Zhugo’s game cannot be encapsulated by one stat. He's the second greatest shitposter ever, and one of the 5 best redditors to ever play the game. So when I hear somebody say that basically anyone is better than Zhugo, I laugh, because I know that anybody who watched Zhugo in his prime wouldn't think that.
Unlike you guys, I have browsed new for a significant amount of time, so I know that Zhugo is better. You might be jealous of Zhugo’s 191k karma, or jealous of his status as the greatest Jokic hater in r/nba history, or whatever. Unless you're a Nuggets fan or a Bucks fan who watched basketball in 2023, you don't know what a real, cold-blooded, killer instinct, will-to-win shitposter looks like. And there's nothing wrong with that.
This sub would make you think that Zhugo isn't even a top 100 hater ever.
I would like people to not overreact to this. This does not mean the Bucks are not the best team in the NBA. This does mean that the top teams can beat each other, and no team is this year is going to do a 2017 Warriors.
I can't wait for r/nba to treat this the same way they did when the Nuggs lost to 76ers a few weeks ago. This should be interesting.....
(it wont be)
I don't know if it was a fun game to watch, but it was enjoyable for at least 3 quarters. I think it should show people that the Nuggets do have a little bit more on defense than they showed in those games earlier in the month.
They need to be a lot more consistent with it, but I liked seeing them be physical tonight.
Tough to read anything from the Bucks tonight.
2 things:
1) The lack of highlights for Jokic is hilarious, you would think Giannis dominated him from the state of this sub
2) This game is an example of why using pts/reb/ast/TS to compare players offensively is extremely misleading.
Giannis had 31/9/4 on 62% TS while Jokic had 31/6/11 on 65% TS which makes it look like they had similar offensive games but it’s clear that Jokic is honestly **miles** ahead of Giannis as an offensive player.
I was so happy to see him be aggressive like that, been a while really--Probably since last years playoffs. Its a real treat because for a dude that size he is so technical and his feet are so fast, underrated athlete
People are going to think Jokic's 11 are rebounds not assists in that format.
30 points and 10 assists games are devastating.
Like you can not say Murray/MPJ are better players than Jrue, Brook, Middleton in a vacuum. But with Jokic they get elevated. One of the best floor raisers in league history.
This sub treated this game like ESPN tests Lakers games. 18 Giannis highlights… oh yea, and he was a -15 and got ran out of the building… but look at this steal and dunk!!
Agree 100% with the last part
The whole "Giannis and Jokic are EQUALS offensively and Giannis is 100x better on defense" argument is flat out wrong
If you want to make the case that Giannis's defense and still-extremely-good offense makes him the better overall player sure but Jokic is absolutely a level above offensively
A player who truthfully had Jokic's offensive skillset combined with Giannis's defense would be close to GOAT level
>A player who truthfully had Jokic's offensive skillset combined with Giannis's defense would be close to GOAT level.
That player would be on the way to becoming the GOAT and it wouldn't be close. As it is, if they can both get multiple titles, they'll be in the top 10ish by the time it's done.
Imagine a player with Giannis' athleticism and Jokić's touch. That would be bananas.
Not hitting any shots tends to mean you lose...
B2Bs are tough, they just ran out of gas in the 2nd half
Also Boston fans, y'all still not gonna get the 1 seed off us
Uncle Jeff is the MVP frontrunner now
50% from 3 tonight!
last 10 games Jeff is 53% from 3. 9/17
Jokic stat tanking with those 3 point shots lmao
He was absolutely determined to hit one lmao. Normally he takes one or two, and if he doesn't have it doesn't take another for the night. Not tonight though lmao, he was making one, then he could stop.
He was pissed off at that 3pt line, he looked like he had something to prove
Practicing for the playoffs, or tanking his percentages so defenders give him the free shot come playoff time. Next generation thinking
Malone always preaches to keep shooting if you have a shot, maybe Nikola accepting some of that a bit more tonight. Lately a lot of those he’d try to pull a defender and drive past. I don’t know if he shot because no one came out to him or because it’s the smart play even when you’re 0/4 or 0/5 but are a good 3 pt shooter overall.
(Disclaimer: I only watched the second half of the game) Every single Bucks offensive possession was the same: the ball is swung over to Giannis, he puts his head down and drives, gets quadruple teamed in the paint, kicks it out softly to a shooter, Denver rotates well on the perimeter, then the Bucks brick a half-contested three as the shot clock is expiring. Also, the three second-half technical fouls on Milwaukee, along with the two shot-clock buzzer-beating three-pointers by the Nuggets, seemed to have just destroyed Milwaukee's spirit completely.
Bruce Brown hitting a LeFuckYou 3 sums up the 2nd half pretty well
When that went in I had no fear of a comeback
Bruce was just feeling saucy tonight
Was that the dance he was gonna pull out if he made that shot in game 3?
Yeah there we had a five-point possession where it was a take foul, they took a tech, and we made a three, and that put the lead up to 8 and we didn't look back
Yeah except the threes weren’t even half contested the bucks can’t make open shots. Been the same all season.
Cmon, usually doesn’t happen to us during the regular season, this is just a playoff preview
Giannis was visibly frustrated and deservingly so, his teammates played like ass. The Nuggets realized during halftime that none of the buck shooters could make anything so they doubled Giannis for the rest of the game and forced the others to do something, which they didn’t. Also Arron Gordon was terrific on defense tonight.
3rd worst shooting performance of the year for the Bucks. Absolutely ice cold. Figured it would be a hard game because it was the second game of a road back to back. Didn't expect them to play one of their worst games of the season though. GG to the Nuggets they dominated.
After watching Gordon in person a few times, underrated player. Not only does he look like a lion, he plays like one.
Bucks open strong but then everybody got frustrated. Lopez got a tech. I think portis got attack. Basically guys defending yogic now that I think about it.
Jokic attacked Lopez a couple times and was super physical. Don’t see many people do that to him
[удалено]
The Jokic supporters feasting tonight.
And yet they won’t flood the sub with 10 lowlights all with 10 awards each
We know giving Reddit money is cringe
I’ve been tempted to award posts for my players but yeah no way am I paying Reddit a cent
All we need is our Uncle putting Giannis on a poster
[удалено]
the 2nd play\*
Grandma saw he was posting past his bedtime.
[удалено]
Hilarious how he turned into Nuggets’ fans biggest opp. This mvp race is toxic af lmao
It would be hilarious if somehow by the end of the season the main beef turns into Giannis vs. Jokic or Giannis vs. Embiid instead of Jokic vs. Embiid I'm definitely starting to see way more Bucks/Nuggets salt recently
Tatum vs Sabonis
The real rivalry
I find that surprising. I thought most of us in Nuggets land really liked and appreciated Giannis. Giannis and Jokic are my two favorites in the league.
Because Embiid is now first in the race so 76ers fans have calmed down a bit. All 3 fan bases have been insufferable but on the season as a whole 76ers fans still take the cake and honestly it’s not that close.
I've decided Philly fans are just passionate and critical as hell, but usually are so critical of themselves as well that it's just funny to every fanbase not directly targeted. There was a that post on /r/nfl the other day of the Philly local throwing shade at Nelson Agholor and the first comment was a list of 5+ other notable incidences -- all of which were hilarious.
I don't know how you can even come close to lumping Nuggets fans in the insufferable category, they've been having shit thrown at them all year long because their guy is averaging a giga efficient triple double and Embiid stans are in shambles over it
It’s funny hearing 76ers fan bitch and moan about how Embiid is disrespected. Dude has BY FAR the worst playoff stats of the 3. To be blunt his playoff stats are borderline atrocious for the standard he’s held to. Yet, Jokic has been getting ripped all year for his playoff failures. And even Giannis gets dragged for having no skill etc despite doing more than Jokic and Embiid combined in the playoffs. Bucks fans have been pretty mild tbh because they already got their ring and Giannis got the MVPs. Nuggets fans have been annoying but at the same time this forum and social media in general have spent a minute now posting all his lowlights and dragging him through the mud so what do you want them to do? What annoys me about 76ers fans is they’re the ones that really drove this MVP debate to become insanely toxic. Now that they’re guy is first they’re acting like it’s Bucks and Nuggets fans being annoying. Lmao no. You lit the house on fire.
76ers fans actually started calling everyone racist because Embiid wasn't the frontrunner.
from what ive personal experianced here, in haterade ranks its sixers > nuggets > bucks philly just loves being a hater
There's a massive gap between philly and denver there. I've said this multiple times, everytime a Philly team is good it makes the discussion around that sport unbearable lmao
Thought he was banned from r/nba
Punching air so hard right now
cant take the heat
he ded
[u/Zhugo the past week](https://i.imgur.com/sYuioE8.jpg)
Honestly it’s so lame this guy talks shut the first post of the game and then goes MIA after the game. I was actually at the game and it reminds me of the guy that was sitting behind me and talked shit the whole first quarter then was completely silent the second half of the game. So sad.
Lmaoooo
Hiding like a coward.
MVP talk has been so unnecessarily toxic. It's just been exhausting. Anyone with eyes and a brain can see just how cut and dry this race has been all year. If this game doesn't prove to you that it's not even close, then idk what will. Get on board or shut the fuck up. Jeff Green deserves it. End of discussion and carry the hell on.
Give it to Geriatric Jeff. He's just going to eliminate every other candidate himself
Old man boomed us.
I think DeAndre Jordan should win. Nuggets never get the 1st seed until he comes along.
Still has the best 3pt% in the league
50% from 3 tonight, 60% fg. They don’t call him Green for nothing
Jeff Green's highlight reel is sick
He’s one of those guys if all you saw was a highlight reel, you’d think he was a HOF-er
Seriously, he puts up a monster dunk every few games he plays that is just fire like he's 20 years old
I just read he has the most dunks of his career this year. Playing with joker has its benefits.
He has had most of our best dunks of the year
He hasn’t won it before. I say we give it to him!
GG Nuggets. GL the rest of the way. Y'all got a nasty offense. Tough loss for the Bucks. 3rd worst shooting performance of the season for the Bucks. Not going to win many games shooting 22%~ from 3. Had some good looks but nothing was dropping.
GG. Segababa in Denver this year is the toughest game of the year, up until our mid season vacation over the last two weeks Denver was the hardest place in the league to play (4 total loses on 8 combined points), and literally no one wins a B2B here. I am just salty both of our games were rest disadvantaged B2Bs, I want to see these squads go at it in an even situation. Guess we will have to settle for the finals!
Never thought I'd see the day where Jokic gets more FTA than Giannis in a game
Jokic should have gotten a few more but the refs allowed both teams to play very physically.
As good of a game as this was, being on the road at altitude on second night of a back to back was a bigger factor than a lot of people are going to admit. That being said, a finals matchup between these two teams would be incredible
A classic Bucks game: Giannis dominates in the first half, then the opposition packs the paint and sends everybody on him in the second half and nobody can do anything with the ball or hit a three. Jokic cooked Lopez in the post, he just so good finishing in the paint. Murray was awesome as well. GG Nuggets, please beat the 76ers as well.
Jeff green crossing off another mvp off his dunk list, embiid is next
that was crazy, jokic got annoyed and started going at Lopez and winning every single time
Cooked him so hard he got a T on the bench. The possible defensive player of the year.
Brook has had a pretty long leash for complaining these last few games. Figure it was just a matter of time before he caught a tech for it.
It was surreal watching nuggets play hard on D the whole game.
Not quite the whole game, but 3ish quarters for sure
before the losing streak im pretty sure we had a top 5 defense since the all star break (I want to say it was the best DRTG but not sure which stat it was so dont want to commit) This team can really dial it up defensively as you saw and it leads to brutally efficient fast breaks
We were like top 8 from Thanksgiving to the all star break. Basically 3 months of excellent defense.
Have you ever watched any Nuggets game other than their recent losing streak?
We pretty much know the answer to that…a resounding no, lol.
u/Zhugo sleeps with da fishes
Jokic is insane
incredible player.
Needs to be committed
We should roll him out in a straitjacket just before tip-off at home
Uncle jeff MVP
The moment I saw Jokic get a stop on Giannis, I knew that Zhugo was done posting highlights for the night 💀💀
They guarded each other for most of the Serbia vs Greece game over the summer.
Jokic lost the lead in MVP betting odds to Embiid due to the Nuggets losing 4 of 5, even while Jokic was playing well. This Monday, Jokic has a chance to give Embiid and the Sixers their 4th loss in 5 games. AND... this comes within 2 days of the Nuggets blowing out Giannis and the Bucks by 23 points. You can't make this stuff up. RIP u/Zhugo
Script Writers getting a raise after this season 😅
Everybody went nuts when Embiid beat Jokic on here, I expect that same kind of coverage
You won’t get it. This sub only watches carefully crafted highlights, they don’t watch the games.
it's actually insane. 90% of this sub doesn't even watch basketball
can you blame us. the tv companies wont let me.
i got you check dms
You have an internet connection. That’s literally all you need for access to every single nba game.
I feel like this was more of a Patrick Mahomes v Tom Brady type of matchup. Very rarely did Giannis and Jokic go head to head. Embiid and Jokic are in each others space. This was more of a Jokic v Lopez battle.
Yeah I rarely see anyone get that physical with Lopez and frustrate him like that
lol we all know that ain't happening, just gotta beat philly in the next game and we got it
Good win for the Nuggets. Jokic played great. Can't expect to win many games shooting this poorly on the back end of a back to back. Gotta be more composed but I think the Bucks were rightfully getting on the refs for a couple of these plays. Nuggets hit everything just shot the Bucks out of the game. Not too worried as I felt there were some good signs from the Bucks. This was always going to be a tough game and the Nuggets took care of business. Onto the next one, a lot to look at and improve on from this game.
Thought the first half was super intense, both teams playing extremely hard. The altitude is no joke, and traveling in to play the 2nd night of back to back is tough. Teams often fall off in the 2nd half in that situation. In terms of the nuggets hitting everything, I think it's worth pointing out that they were slightly below their average from 3 tn
> Not too worried as I felt there were some good signs from the Bucks. totally agree. People gunna over-react to this game like they do to every game here. Very disappointing game from the Bucks but didn't leave me too worried. They were getting a lot of good looks. I think this was their 3rd worst shooting performance of the season from 3. Just one of those games unfortunately. GG to the nuggets though. They game out with energy and balled the entire game.
Celtics had a similar game against the nuggets this season. They’re just a damn good team.
There is way too much over-reacting game to game. Denver has been on the other end of some games like this year. Every team this year has. The sky was falling in Nuggets land a week ago.
You guys just got unlucky on those shots and the players got frustrated waayyyyyy too fast, a good amount of those three pointers went in and out which is annoying already but techs for shittalking + shotclock beaters from brown just demolished their spirits, unfortunate since it started out as such a close game
When the Nuggets are locked in this team is absolutely lethal. I’m sure they’ll shorten their playoff rotation and they’ll have to stay healthy but if they can stick with that starting 5, Brown and Green + filler minutes this is absolutely a title contender which people have started to doubt.
I think Braun is going to be important in any playoff run if we're going to make one. I know he is a rook but kid already has a LOT of poise and defensive IQ.
Yep, it’ll be telling if Malone trusts him. Y’all might get tested right away against a very, very good Lakers team for instance and if he can hold up against LeBron who would 100% target him it’ll go such a long way.
Kid was Ding of Giannis. Zeke was big tonight.
I really hope that Green is not in the playoff rotation. He has some killer highlights every now and then but with the 2 rebounds he picked up tonight, he now has 2 rebounds in his last 73 game minutes. Nnaji makes a bigger impact, especially on the defensive end, and sets better screens.
Remove green, brown braun zeke. I love jeff, but he's best for to play maybe every second game. Give him plenty of rest in between. We also have vlatko.
Nuggets ramped up the physicality in the second half and also started running. Bucks on a b2b looked a bit too tired to respond. GG bucks fans. I hope we get a series between these teams some time
Weird where's all the Nuggets lowlight clips today?
they tried with the first half lol, not much ammo if at all second half
u/zhugo and r/76ers in shambles.
That’s my MVP
I also root for Jeff Green
I was told Nuggets weren’t a true contender
Sigh…..unzips
Imo Jokic really showed how deadly he is when he asserts himself in the paint
Just for this win, I’ll say Jokic is the MVP. Thank you Nuggets!
😘 thanks bb
Look, I’ve got no dawg in this fight. Embiid has been one of my favorite players in the league since he’s been drafted, I think Giannis is the most dominant player in the league but if I had an MVP vote I’d go Jokic. All 3 are special and there’s no wrong answer
Yep, the three best players in the league this year and they're all bigs with very different playstyles. It's fun to watch!
They're no san Antonio spurs
Man it’s so weird how quiet it was on this board tonight huh
Is it crazy to say that Jokic actually played *good* defense?
Don't let Zhugo hear you, he's already had one stroke!
Man it’s crazy how everyone just expected Jokic and the nuggets to just roll over in the face of giannis’ greatness, like you guys really have to be reminded every year that Jokic is that dude it’s really a trip.
Keep doubting the Nuggets yall. This team is special. This was a Finals preview !RemindMe in 82days
Wow, those were some nifty steals by Giannis.
Jokic +19 while Giannis -15👀👀. Where you at u/zhugo got any more clips today or you in hiding after that one? Maybe it’s time we start questioning Giannis defence if he’s getting 129 hung on him with two DPOY level teammates. Or his offence for not being able to score enough against the “worst defensive centre ever”
r/nba, r/MkeBucks, r/sixers 9/11
Lol. I'm just gonna take a few days vacation from the sub. Probably for the best
It’s been weird seeing Bucks fans join hands with Sixers fans, supporting their conference rival to spite Jokic
Because they don't want Jokic to get 3 MVPs before Giannis. I've seen this sort of thing play out in every community. When someone is approaching "your guy" people attack the competition. Happens with Kpop fans, Youtubers, politics, everywhere.
He’s probably busy buying Reddit downvotes for this post right now lol
There was lots of talk in the game thread about how bad Jokic's defense tonight was and my reaction the whole time was lIke, then what kind of defense are Milwaukee currently playing against the Nuggets right now.
Didn’t they (thankfully) get banned?
Posted one stupid highlight from early in the game then went silent 🤡
Think they banned a few Nuggets , Bucks and Sixers flairs last month , no Idea if they are back. There was Nugget fans changing flair to hate on the others 2 bigs and Zhugo(Bucks) highlighs and etc
Expectations on this game based on r/nba posts the past few days: Jokic gonna get exposed on defense again. What happened this game: Giannis got exposed on offense in the second half. Looks like building a wall is still the most effective answer to Giannis
It’s always been the same conclusion: the wall only works of the team shoots like shit. Today they shot 25% from 3–some could blame the B2B but Khris and Pat have been very streaky. The question is always whether or not they shoot that poorly over a 7-game series, that will be the deciding factor.
That’s why reactionary takes are so lame. Shooting variance happens. A 7 game series would be insane. I’m pulling for a Nuggs/Bucks finals. Two small markets with superstars that care more about family than fame. Legit team basketball with very little bullshit. Other than Grayson Allen, likable rosters top to bottom.
The question for the bucks for 3 years now has always been the shooting when giannis inevitably gets triple teamed in the paint
Agreed. That’s basically my comment.
Also helps to make him travel to altitude on the second night of a back-to-back
Nephews painting the town red tonight
Well if he passes out go a wall but his teammates brick open shots there’s not much he can do is there?
Giannis has already shown he can beat the build a wall strategy by passing to the open man… the Bucks missed so many open 3s, that’s what decided the game.
Giannis had a sweet, highlight-worthy drive and dish to a wide open corner shooter that I was certain was going to be a swish and the guy just clanked it.
> What happened this game: Giannis got exposed on offense in the second half. Any team that builds their team around a player that drives and can find the open man for the 3 will struggle when those players shoot 25% from there. It doesn't matter if it is Giannis or LeBron.
“The Wall” only works if the Bucks can’t shoot for their lives, which is what happened in Game 7 last year.
The problem with drive and kick is if the kick always leads to a brick, then all you have is drive
I was told that attacking Jokic gets you an easy layup every time. Are the Bucks brain dead or something? How’d they only have 106 points against that traffic cone smh.
WE HAVE NO DEFENSE 😢😢😢😢
That game thread was a god damn mess. people are so toxic about this when none of the front runners even give a shit about being mvp.
Embiid cares a lot i think.
Embiid cares a lot cause he doesn't have one yet.
Embiid super cares. Giannis and Jok absolutely give 0 shits. Which is fair, given Embiid doesn't have one yet and the others have a pair apiece.
We all know about it, and we all see it. It's obvious. Nobody ever wants to admit it, but it's there. People on this subreddit hate u/Zhugo. The first question to ask: why? Why do you all hate him? The obvious answer: you didn't watch him in his prime. Likely explanation: I know that most of you are around 14 or 15 years old. That means you only got into r/nba in the last couple days. So you never watched Zhugo in his prime. And because you didn't watch him in his prime, you try to compensate for that by diving into stat sheets and analyzing box scores. But here's the thing: hating isn't done on Excel spreadsheets. The moment somebody brings up "pick and roll" or "offense" I know they know nothing about basketball. Zhugo’s game cannot be encapsulated by one stat. He's the second greatest shitposter ever, and one of the 5 best redditors to ever play the game. So when I hear somebody say that basically anyone is better than Zhugo, I laugh, because I know that anybody who watched Zhugo in his prime wouldn't think that. Unlike you guys, I have browsed new for a significant amount of time, so I know that Zhugo is better. You might be jealous of Zhugo’s 191k karma, or jealous of his status as the greatest Jokic hater in r/nba history, or whatever. Unless you're a Nuggets fan or a Bucks fan who watched basketball in 2023, you don't know what a real, cold-blooded, killer instinct, will-to-win shitposter looks like. And there's nothing wrong with that. This sub would make you think that Zhugo isn't even a top 100 hater ever.
Wait, I have seen this before, just like last year when Nuggets playing against Bucks and 76ers at the end of season.
I just want to add what a great win by Denver while the bucks are at full strength. Kudos
I would like people to not overreact to this. This does not mean the Bucks are not the best team in the NBA. This does mean that the top teams can beat each other, and no team is this year is going to do a 2017 Warriors.
I think it's understated that Brook Lopez got played off the floor in a regular season game
I can't wait for r/nba to treat this the same way they did when the Nuggs lost to 76ers a few weeks ago. This should be interesting..... (it wont be)
I don't know if it was a fun game to watch, but it was enjoyable for at least 3 quarters. I think it should show people that the Nuggets do have a little bit more on defense than they showed in those games earlier in the month. They need to be a lot more consistent with it, but I liked seeing them be physical tonight. Tough to read anything from the Bucks tonight.
I cant believe Uncle Jeff ended Giannis' mvp contention just like that
There is no unquestioned best team in the league
2 things: 1) The lack of highlights for Jokic is hilarious, you would think Giannis dominated him from the state of this sub 2) This game is an example of why using pts/reb/ast/TS to compare players offensively is extremely misleading. Giannis had 31/9/4 on 62% TS while Jokic had 31/6/11 on 65% TS which makes it look like they had similar offensive games but it’s clear that Jokic is honestly **miles** ahead of Giannis as an offensive player.
Joker was going right at Lopez, too, this was not a casual game from him
I was so happy to see him be aggressive like that, been a while really--Probably since last years playoffs. Its a real treat because for a dude that size he is so technical and his feet are so fast, underrated athlete
I think he is gonna go straight at Embiid on Monday as well. PJ Tucker isn’t getting away that easily again.
People are going to think Jokic's 11 are rebounds not assists in that format. 30 points and 10 assists games are devastating. Like you can not say Murray/MPJ are better players than Jrue, Brook, Middleton in a vacuum. But with Jokic they get elevated. One of the best floor raisers in league history.
Updated
Jokic straight cooked the DPOY and took him out of the game entirely lol.
This sub treated this game like ESPN tests Lakers games. 18 Giannis highlights… oh yea, and he was a -15 and got ran out of the building… but look at this steal and dunk!!
Agree 100% with the last part The whole "Giannis and Jokic are EQUALS offensively and Giannis is 100x better on defense" argument is flat out wrong If you want to make the case that Giannis's defense and still-extremely-good offense makes him the better overall player sure but Jokic is absolutely a level above offensively A player who truthfully had Jokic's offensive skillset combined with Giannis's defense would be close to GOAT level
>A player who truthfully had Jokic's offensive skillset combined with Giannis's defense would be close to GOAT level. That player would be on the way to becoming the GOAT and it wouldn't be close. As it is, if they can both get multiple titles, they'll be in the top 10ish by the time it's done. Imagine a player with Giannis' athleticism and Jokić's touch. That would be bananas.
Hope somebody posts a highlight reel!
we need a highlight reel from the 1st half with Jok feasting on Brook
One team completely shutdown their opponent in the 2nd half and it wasn't the one your defensive god plays for
Traffic cone strikes again
You just got shut down by a sloppy fat boy
sorry Giannis this lane is closed
Braun plays for the Nuggets
Giannis lowlights vs Jokic coming?
They barely matched up, Giannis was getting shut down by 47 year old Jeff Green and 17 year old Christian Braun
well that sucked
Bucks just couldn't let the Heat have the worst 2nd half of the evening, what a bunch of good guys!
MVP MVP MVP
So this means Jokic is MVP again right?
perhaps its time to start questioning giannis' defense right?
Nuggets fans MVP agenda⬆️ Bucks fans MVP agenda⬇️ 76ers fans MVP agenda↔️
Nuggets had Giannis absolutely locked down in the second half. I feel like I haven't seen us look that good defensively all season.
Arrivederci. Nuggetoutta here!!!
Nikola Jokić. Jamal Murray. Jeff Green. Big 3.
I've seen enough. Jeff Green for MVP.
Not hitting any shots tends to mean you lose... B2Bs are tough, they just ran out of gas in the 2nd half Also Boston fans, y'all still not gonna get the 1 seed off us