- Lakers @ Nuggets Game 1 Conference Finals Live Scoreboard | #NBAPlayoffs Presented by Google Pixel NBA
- Lakers Vs. Nuggets Game 1 Preview: Looking To Steal Another Opening Game On Road LakersNation.com
- Stephen A. & JJ Redick preview Lakers-Nuggets Game 1 + discuss Ja Morant’s future | First Take ESPN
- Lakers vs. Nuggets Game 1: LeBron, Jokic – Fastbreak on FanNation Sports Illustrated
- Keeler: The best way for Anthony Davis, Lakers to slow down Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic? Kidnapping might actually be it. The Denver Post
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Tag Archives: Nuggets
Lakers vs. Nuggets prediction, odds: 2023 NBA Western Conference finals picks, Game 1 bets from proven model – CBS Sports
- Lakers vs. Nuggets prediction, odds: 2023 NBA Western Conference finals picks, Game 1 bets from proven model CBS Sports
- Stephen A. & JJ Redick preview Lakers-Nuggets Game 1 + discuss Ja Morant’s future | First Take ESPN
- Lakers Vs. Nuggets Game 1 Preview: Looking To Steal Another Opening Game On Road LakersNation.com
- Lakers vs. Nuggets Game 1: LeBron, Jokic – Fastbreak on FanNation Sports Illustrated
- Keeler: The best way for Anthony Davis, Lakers to slow down Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic? Kidnapping might actually be it. The Denver Post
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Dan Patrick Recaps The Celtics Game 6 Win, Nuggets Eliminating The Suns | 05/12/23 – Dan Patrick Show
- Dan Patrick Recaps The Celtics Game 6 Win, Nuggets Eliminating The Suns | 05/12/23 Dan Patrick Show
- Suns quit in elimination game. Expect massive changes in the offseason The Arizona Republic
- ‘ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC’: Stephen A. calls Nuggets-Suns G6 a ‘comedy show’ at halftime | NBA Countdown ESPN
- From Jamal Murray playing through illness to Michael Malone calling fiery timeout up 23, Nuggets have an essential championship quality The Denver Post
- Nikola Jokić, Nuggets eliminate Kevin Durant, Suns with 125-100 Game 6 win | NBA | UNDISPUTED Skip and Shannon: UNDISPUTED
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Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić fined $25,000, won’t be suspended for shoving Suns owner Mat Ishbia – The Athletic
- Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić fined $25,000, won’t be suspended for shoving Suns owner Mat Ishbia The Athletic
- Suns’ Mat Ishbia says Nikola Jokic suspension ‘would not be right’ – ESPN ESPN
- 05-08-23 – Suns Take Game 4 After Jokic Shoves Suns Owner Matt Ishbia – UFest Reset And Review w/John Near Killing Of A Small Girl In The Crowd – UFest Combined w/George Strait Fans Ending At Same Time – 98KUPD – Arizona’s Real Rock Upcoming Events – 98KUPD – Arizona’s Real Rock
- Was the Nikola Jokic technical foul UNCALLED FOR?! | KJM NBA on ESPN
- Nikola Jokic won’t be suspended for incident with Suns owner – ESPN ESPN
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Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic avoids suspension, but fined $25K for Game 4 altercation with Suns owner Mat Ishbia – CBS Sports
- Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic avoids suspension, but fined $25K for Game 4 altercation with Suns owner Mat Ishbia CBS Sports
- Suns’ Mat Ishbia says Nikola Jokic suspension ‘would not be right’ – ESPN ESPN
- 05-08-23 – Suns Take Game 4 After Jokic Shoves Suns Owner Matt Ishbia – UFest Reset And Review w/John Near Killing Of A Small Girl In The Crowd – UFest Combined w/George Strait Fans Ending At Same Time – 98KUPD – Arizona’s Real Rock Upcoming Events – 98KUPD – Arizona’s Real Rock
- #1 NUGGETS at #4 SUNS | FULL GAME 4 HIGHLIGHTS | May 7, 2023 NBA
- Nikola Jokic T’d up after making contact with Suns’ Mat Ishbia – ESPN ESPN
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Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns Prediction: Can Nikola Jokic, Nuggets Win Western Semifinals Game 1? – OddsChecker
- Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns Prediction: Can Nikola Jokic, Nuggets Win Western Semifinals Game 1? OddsChecker
- Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns: Who has the edge, five things to watch and predictions The Denver Post
- Suns vs. Nuggets score: Live NBA playoffs updates as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker lead Phoenix against Denver CBS Sports
- Jokic vs. Durant, Murray vs. Booker – Here’s everything you need to know about Suns-Nuggets – ESPN ESPN
- Phoenix Suns vs. Denver Nuggets NBA Playoffs Game 1 score updates, analysis The Arizona Republic
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2023 NBA All-Star Game dubbed ‘worst basketball game ever played’ by Nuggets coach Michael Malone – CBS Sports
- 2023 NBA All-Star Game dubbed ‘worst basketball game ever played’ by Nuggets coach Michael Malone CBS Sports
- Twitter has fun with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s NBA All-Star Game picks Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- “He better pick me!” – Jrue Holiday has a clear message for Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of the All-Star game Sports Illustrated
- 2023 NBA All-Star Game score: Jayson Tatum breaks scoring record, wins MVP; LeBron James’ streak ends CBS Sports
- Pacers’ Haliburton drafted to Team LeBron 8 Points, 9 Seconds
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Trail Blazers Guard Simons Blows Nuggets Into the Stone Age
The Portland Trail Blazers faced one of their stiffest challenges of the season on Monday night, facing the Denver Nuggets and their MVP center, Nikola Jokic. As it turned out, the challenge was as stiff as overdone pasta, as the Blazers steamrolled Denver 135-110.
Damian Lillard ruled the first half of the game. He finished the night with 31 points on 10-16 shooting with 6 rebounds and 8 assists. Anfernee Simons took over in the third period, which saw Portland turn a 6-point deficit into a 13-point lead. Simons scored 29 for the game, shooting 7-12 from distance. With Jokic spending most of the game on the bench with foul trouble, that’s all the Blazers needed to win their fourth in a row to start the season.
If you missed the action, shame on you! Fortunately Matthew Legros has you covered with our quarter-by-quarter recap. After you’ve perused that, here are seven observations from Portland’s victory.
Smart Nuggets…For a Half
Field goal percentage is one of the ways to tell if a team’s offense is clicking. But percentage doesn’t tell everything. Where the shots come from also matters (and often contributes to percentage). Denver had no problem getting shots just where they wanted them in the first half. They feasted in the lane off of layups, posts, and offensive rebounds. In between, they generated enough kick-outs to make the Rockettes jealous. Even on their lower-percentage three-point attempts, they simply rose over the shorter Blazers. Credit to the Nuggets for the veteran know-how, exploiting matchups without having to feed a star for isolation attempts. Denver ended up 49.5% from the field for the game.
Easy Points
The Blazers had a couple tricks up their sleeves too. Tap-out rebounds for second chances have become a staple of Portland’s offense. Portland can’t necessarily grab boards, but they can poke them away from the opponent. Fast break points also provide a source of easy buckets when the offense dries up. Those extra, easy points take away the over-reliance on the three-pointer.
Portland got 9 offensive boards tonight, almost matching the 10 that the much-bigger Denver team corralled. 26 points on the break highlighted the effort the Blazers put in.
Zone
The Blazers have run zones against every opponent they’ve faced so far. It hasn’t worked very well. Tonight, it did. Zoning up against the Nuggets forced them to shoot in the seams. The openings came from mid-range. This was about the only time all night that Denver’s efficiency wavered, but boy did it waver. They got only jumpers against the zone and pretty much all of them missed badly.
The third period was won on the back of distance shooting, but Portland’s zone made the margin significant instead of ceremonial.
Normally “zone defense” and “good defenders” don’t belong in the same sentence, but there’s something vaguely attractive about the mobile Blazers keeping themselves in the vicinity of plays rather than getting dragged out of position and having to recover.
Third Quarter Adjustments
The third quarter was a nightmare for the Blazers last year. It’s been an intermittent issue for a while. Under-talented rosters tend to excel early, then wilt when the better team starts paying attention.
If early-season third periods are any indication, the Blazers just might be the better team this year. The Blazers trailed 61-55 at the half, but it took them about three minutes to erase that deficit with their shift in defense, running, and a barrage of Anfernee Simons threes. By the time the smoke cleared, Portland led 99-86. It was a 19-point swing in a single period.
Stay tuned, but halftime may just turn out to be a benefit this year.
Threes
Portland started the game sketchy from distance, but when then warmed up, they warmed UP. The Blazers hit 11 second-half triples, blowing the Nuggets out of the water. They’re better as an inside team now. When the outside shots are falling too? Watch out.
Mismatches
The Blazers had no answer for Denver’s forwards. Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter, Jr. were just too big for Portland’s defenders to manage. Porter, Jr. had 18, shooting 50% from the field and 4-8 from the arc. Gordon scored 26 on 12-16 shooting.
Portland’s guards did their own damage, though. Denver didn’t come out far enough on Simons and couldn’t stay in front of Lillard. Dame fed Simons in the third period as Anfernee hit 6 of 7 three-pointers. Yes, in the quarter. At a certain point, it was like a video game out there. Portland was on the good side of it. Simons had 22 points, yes, IN THE QUARTER.
Joker Sits
If Nikola Jokic is The Joker, the referees were Batman tonight. Jokic spent pretty much the entire evening in foul trouble, picking up his fourth midway through the third period. He earned his fifth with 9:00 remaining in the fourth. Jokic attempted only 4 shots in 27 minutes of play. No matter who else Denver has, that’s a big advantage for the opponent.
If you’re counting, the MVP ended up slot-machining the evening with 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists. Theoretically coins should have spilled out of Denver’s locker room at that point, but given the final score, it was probably more like tears.
Up Next
Boxscore
The Blazers welcome the Miami Heat to the Moda Center on Wednesday night, with tip-off at 7:00 PM, Pacific.
Nikola Jokic’s late cross-court heave seals Nuggets’ win over Warriors
SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole put the Golden State Warriors down just one point with 14 seconds remaining after stealing the ball off a lazy Denver Nuggets pass and laying it back in.
But just a split second later, as the Warriors were still getting back in transition, Nikola Jokic inbounded the ball with a crosscourt heave — something Jokic admitted was “a risk” after the game.
It was one he was more than willing to take after Bones Hyland turned the ball over, leading to Poole’s bucket, and Jokic saw nothing but a swarm of Warriors jerseys.
“My guys had to be open,” Jokic said.
So he chucked the ball 85 feet to find a wide-open Bruce Brown, who complete the play with a dunk. That — and a pair of free throws a few seconds later — sealed the Nuggets’ 128-123 win Friday night.
Draymond Green said the Warriors weren’t caught sleeping on Jokic’s pass, but there was a lapse in communication. Usually, the Warriors want their center back underneath the other basket, but in this scenario the center was Green, and he was trapping.
“It’s an unfamiliar position for our guards. Guards don’t protect the basket,” Green said. “That’s something I could have communicated. I should have communicated that we got to make sure we have a man back, and that’s something we can learn from.”
Jokic finished the game with 26 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and 10 assists — his 77th career triple-double. Jokic now has the second-most triple-doubles by a center in NBA history behind just Wilt Chamberlain (78).
Jokic scored or assisted on 50 Denver points, but it was his passing that stood out above his other stats.
“Honestly, we have eight years together now and [nothing surprises me],” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “So many big games, so many moments when he’s made the big play, the right play and a game-changing type of play. … His IQ is off the charts. He’s out there playing chess, and a lot of other guys are playing checkers.”
Against the Warriors, the Nuggets scored 24 points off Jokic’s passes on 10-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3. Three of his 10 assists came in transition, and six of them led to open looks.
Five different teammates scored off his passes, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown benefiting the most.
Caldwell-Pope shot 3-of-5 off Jokic’s passes, while Brown went a perfect 4-of-4 including the winning dunk.
Before the game, Malone spoke his team’s need to build chemistry as the Nuggets welcomed eight new players, including Caldwell-Pope and Brown, and reintegrated Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
With that in mind, Malone has been challenging Jokic to take his leadership to the next level by not just playing by example, but by being vocal and teaching.
Three or four times on Friday, Malone said he saw Jokic grab the whiteboard during timeouts to explain to his new and younger teammates where he wants them on plays.
“If you ask Bruce and Kenny Pope, from afar they probably admired Jokic’s passing from playing against him. But it’s different watching than now you’re with him,” Malone said. “He makes the game so easy, but you have to be ready.”
The Nuggets headed into halftime having scored 70 points and up 18 on Golden State, but a patented Warriors third-quarter rush to pair with a strong fourth put them within eight with about five minutes to go.
Stephen Curry finished with 34 points on 10-of-22 shooting, while Andrew Wiggins added 23 points and eight rebounds and Draymond Green had 13 points and nine assists.
But Denver outscored the Warriors 9-4 in clutch time to seal their victory.
“Our second quarter was one of our best quarters in a long time against a quality opponent,” Malone said. “But down the stretch, there are so many things we need to clean up. … But it’s a hell of a win. We can savor it for about two and a half hours on the plane, and then tomorrow night we have our home opener.”
2022-23 NBA Finals predictions: Expert picks range from Clippers to Bucks to Celtics to Nuggets to Warriors
It seems like every year since the Warriors-Cavs saga of the mid-2010s, we find ourselves saying, “this is the most wide-open the NBA has ever been.” Well, folks, with another season about to tip off Tuesday night, the 2022-23 campaign has kindly asked you to hold that thought.
There are at least nine teams in the Eastern Conference that most would consider locks for a playoff spot — that means one of them isn’t even getting out of the play-in. Out West, the competition is just as stiff, with 11 teams having a legitimate case to make the postseason.
Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Los Angeles Clippers and Jamal Murray rejoining the Denver Nuggets means that there will be a significant battle for the top spot in the Western Conference, especially considering that the 64-win Suns are returning most of their core and the defending champion Golden State Warriors could be even better than they were a season ago.
In the East, the fight for the No. 1 seed will be just as vicious, with the Philadelphia 76ers making significant improvements and the Brooklyn Nets potentially having Ben Simmons for a full season. They’ll be serious threats to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks and last year’s No. 1-seeded Miami Heat. That’s not even to mention the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, who both acquired All-Star guards to bolster their rosters.
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If the races at the top weren’t intriguing enough, this season also presents a riveting downhill plunge to the bottom, with rebuilding teams hoping to land a shot at two of the most coveted draft prospects in recent memory — Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson. Teams like the Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic will likely pile up the losses as they hope to land a potential franchise-changer.
That makes crafting predictions an extremely difficult and rewarding exercise, so our NBA scribes at CBS Sports decided to give it a shot. We’ve picked our favorites to emerge from each conference, who’ll be the last team standing and the player who’ll be holding up both the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the Bill Russell Award for the NBA Finals MVP. As you can see, there is no clear consensus on which way this postseason is going to go.
Mike Meredith/CBS Sports
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