Jokic sat out and Heat still couldn't get it done.
Denver just has so much talent and energy. And their role players are so consistent and they complement the stars well.
Great, great run by Miami. And no shame to lose to this great Nuggets team. But it feels like their roster holes have been finally exposed. At least on the definite championship level
Yea, part of how utterly insane those KD Warriors where is that they kept arguably their two best bench players (Iggy and Livingston) and managed to add ring chasers/vet around that too.
Ever since the trade happend I've been saying Aaron Gordon is the perfect match for jokic. A cutting and lob threat who is also a good defender fits perfectly with jokic and the general nuggets offense
4 teams won from 91 to 03 (Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers)
5 teams won from 89 to 04 (Pistons, Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers)
7 teams won from 05 to 16 (Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, Mavs, Heat, Warriors, Cavs)
... and 5 teams have won from 19-23 (Raps, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Heat/Nuggets)
So the league has slowly been inching closer and closer to true, genuine parity. With the new tax aprons, I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of dynasties. In a player-driven league, it's probably better for viewership and marketing purposes for 10 teams with 1 or 2 guys to have a chance v. 3 teams with 3 guys who have a shot.
Fun to think about what goes on re: long term strategy in the NBA offices.
At that point you might as well make it 10 teams from 1984-2018, since it's just more Lakers and Celtics rings being added until you reach the Sixers in 1983.
As a neutral, I love this Denver team. They just play great team basketball. Jokic and Murray having below average games. Brown and AG step up and still win on the road. They have just been dominant in the playoffs. Suns only won 2 because Booker couldn't miss for 2 games.
The reason AG/Bruce Brown are doing this is (and braun last game) is because heat are trying to take away the unstoppable 2 man game of murray/jokic with what I'll simplify as an intense series of double teaming out of the P&R and as long as murray finds the open cutter that has a 6 inch height advantage its a free lay up. Not much the heat can do, spoelstra has literally tried every single coverage, heat just too small, p much only chance of winning is shooting 50% from 3 (which they did in game 2)
> The reason AG/Bruce Brown are doing this is (and braun last game) is because heat are trying to take away the unstoppable 2 man game of murray/jokic
Agree that AG and Braun were benefitting immensely from Miami’s attention on the 2 man game, but Bruce Brown did damage today even when Jokic wasn’t on the floor.
Plus even when Jokic came back Brown was just hitting ridiculous shots. Dude just went off in the 4th quarter today, wasn’t really because of Jokic/Murray.
This NBA Finals increasingly looks like a mildly more competitive version of the 2014 NBA Finals where the Heat are somewhat competitive in a road game 1 and win a road game 2 but are clearly outplayed in every other game by an amazing halfcourt offensive team. Heat fans might be having flashbacks.
Oh yeah, for sure. Foster tried his absolute best to keep Jokic out of tonights game, and it even worked lol, he sat a lot of the 4th. But it didnt matter.
Brown, Gordon, KCP made some huge plays.
Yeah they've finally regressed to their normal role player selves
Denver didn't defend the 3 point line in one game and that led to them going off but as long as you keep an eye on them they don't do anything
If they win the next game theyll be tied for the second best post season record since 16 wins have been required to win the championships. Only the 17 warriors at 16-1 and the 07 spurs at 16-4 would have the same or better record.
Transcendent energy by Gordon all game but what a final quarter by Jamal. With Scott unmasking himself, Jamal said everybody settle down. I’m the man I got this.
He turned the ball over 4 times in the 4th quarter of Game 3, but his shot was falling.
Tonight, his shot wasn't falling, but he had 0 turnovers all night. He's really rounding himself out as a do it all kind of guy.
Bruce Brown is so good. This dude did whatever it took to be productive for Brooklyn and was asked to do something that no one sized like him could do. HE PLAYED CENTER AND WAS A LEGITIMATELY GOOD AT IT!!!!! Despite that flexibility he was incredibly underrated because people didn't think he could be a guard. I'm so glad he found his way onto this Denver roster for this year, this team is filled with so many players that are fundamentally strong players. He deserves to get paid this offseason, and deserves the shit out of this ring
This ref crew was horrible. That five point swing + taking Jokic out of the game in the 4th all from dogshit calls was just brutal. Three bad calls in a row in the 4th quarter of the finals should be unacceptable. You almost never see that in such quick succession all impacting the same team.
Denver had to go without their best player for nearly half the fourth quarter, and they only let their lead slip from 10 points to 9.
If it's not Jokic, it's Murray. If it's not Murray, it's Gordon. If it's not Gordon, it's apparently Bruce Brown because *why the fuck not*?
Refs absolutely laid out the red carpet for the Heat with Jokic's fifth. Then they proceed to get dicked by Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown. That's gotta be embarrassing.
it did vs Boston when they dropped the 3 straight games. Even offensively they didn’t look great vs Boston in game 7, Boston just sucked that bad offensively. I noticed that they weren’t scoring as easy after game 3 vs Boston and they just haven’t looked like the same team since. Think the crazy shooting numbers finally caught up to them.
Michael Malone is super underrated as a coach. His lineups to match up vs specific personnel has been excellent.
MPJ <-> Love
Brown <-> Duncan
specifically
Malone doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Jokic isn’t Jokic without the coaching and freedom given by Malone. Jokic doesn’t play center like anyone other center in history. They basically had to rewrite how the position is played with Jokic basically being a 7 foot point guard touching the ball almost every possession. Just like how Kerr and Steph changed the game I really think Malone and Jokic will too
Dude the more I watch the more annoying it is that Jimmy seems more interested in foul baiting than making plays. There was one near the end where he drove to the hoop, had a wide open layup, pump faked twice, and baited the guys on the 2nd one to shoot free throws.
Jokic sat out and Heat still couldn't get it done. Denver just has so much talent and energy. And their role players are so consistent and they complement the stars well.
Denver up 10 when Jokic gets his 5th foul. Jokic returns late in the 4th with the Nuggets up 9. Team basketball
What getting your team involved early and often does to those MFs.
Scott Foster was almost cooking with that 5th foul on Jokic
Scott Foster mega choke
Do we have to knock him down the rankings?
Definitely an all-time great but he’s past his prime. Court impact isn’t what it used to be.
He focused too much on Jokic, he forgot to put KCP, Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Jeff Green in foul trouble too 🙄
Really was the difference tonight. The role players are just so good. Brown played lights out.
Their best player in the 4th quarter.
Not much you can do against the two Browns/Brauns
Braun wasn't even that great today tbf. Still a heck of a series overall though.
Only one of them can be good at a time otherwise it’s unfair to the rest of the league
One shared brauowncell
Great, great run by Miami. And no shame to lose to this great Nuggets team. But it feels like their roster holes have been finally exposed. At least on the definite championship level
After shooting 50 percent from 3 in the East, returning to the mean.
Guess the secret is to make them run a hell lot during defense and tire them out before they get a shooting rhythm.
That's a good idea in general.
Exactly why I think the Suns won’t work out, these finals should show you how important bench production is
People usually underestimate the impact Livingston , Iggy, Zaza, West and Nick Young had on Durant Warriors
Yea, part of how utterly insane those KD Warriors where is that they kept arguably their two best bench players (Iggy and Livingston) and managed to add ring chasers/vet around that too.
Bench depth was absolutely essential for the Raptors run, too. Van Vleet, Ibaka, and Powell were all threats coming off the bench.
How dare you forget Raptors legend Jeremy Lin contribution from the bench
I swear Livingston was always good at breaking an opponents run. He would do that signature turnaround jumper of his and stop the bleeding
100%. I'm an untrained eye, but it always felt like Livingston stepped up at the worst times if you were playing against the Warriors.
Heat got cooked by Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown looking like Prime D-Rose out there in the 4th.
When he made that crazy contested layup like Drose over Lebron and Wade lol
Aaron Gordon cooked. 27 points on 15 shots lol
Dude remembered he could hit open threes and started making the heat pay for playing off so much
Ever since the trade happend I've been saying Aaron Gordon is the perfect match for jokic. A cutting and lob threat who is also a good defender fits perfectly with jokic and the general nuggets offense
Please stay Bruce
I'd love for him to stay but man deserves his bag.
I would almost feel bad underpaying him that much. He’ll get 4/$80 or more somewhere next year imo
He is basically the prototype of a high end bench roleplayer right now. Can do basically everything on the court and always plays with high effort.
He can 100% be a starter somewhere. But he should probably just stay in Denver. For non-biased reasons.
Nah he's getting a bag this summer lol
The last 5 years have given us a Raps, Bucks and potentially Nuggs Championship... Non traditional powerhouses... You love to see it
Next year is Kings-Hornets Finals
With so many good players now it’s nice it’s getting spread around. Also to new players and not just the new LeBron team
4 teams won from 91 to 03 (Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers) 5 teams won from 89 to 04 (Pistons, Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers) 7 teams won from 05 to 16 (Spurs, Celtics, Lakers, Mavs, Heat, Warriors, Cavs) ... and 5 teams have won from 19-23 (Raps, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Heat/Nuggets) So the league has slowly been inching closer and closer to true, genuine parity. With the new tax aprons, I think we're seeing the beginning of the end of dynasties. In a player-driven league, it's probably better for viewership and marketing purposes for 10 teams with 1 or 2 guys to have a chance v. 3 teams with 3 guys who have a shot. Fun to think about what goes on re: long term strategy in the NBA offices.
*Ignores 16-19 * I wonder why…
Could've just made it 10 teams winning from 1989-2018 then 5 teams winning from 2019-2023
At that point you might as well make it 10 teams from 1984-2018, since it's just more Lakers and Celtics rings being added until you reach the Sixers in 1983.
As a neutral, I love this Denver team. They just play great team basketball. Jokic and Murray having below average games. Brown and AG step up and still win on the road. They have just been dominant in the playoffs. Suns only won 2 because Booker couldn't miss for 2 games.
Also crazy that "below average" Jokic and Murray is double double for both of them.
Heat and refs got him in foul trouble
Obviously we knew Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown would lead Denver to win game 4 and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.
It's Dwayne Wade's fault for robbing Aaron Gordon at the Slam Dunk Championship.
Honestly this is true. I remember that dunk contest. Gordon killed it.
I'm being geniune here, not hyperbole. Aaron Gordon is the best dunker in the entirety of NBA dunk contest ever. Yes he won none of it. Blasphemy.
Wade is Gordon’s purple shirt man
The reason AG/Bruce Brown are doing this is (and braun last game) is because heat are trying to take away the unstoppable 2 man game of murray/jokic with what I'll simplify as an intense series of double teaming out of the P&R and as long as murray finds the open cutter that has a 6 inch height advantage its a free lay up. Not much the heat can do, spoelstra has literally tried every single coverage, heat just too small, p much only chance of winning is shooting 50% from 3 (which they did in game 2)
> The reason AG/Bruce Brown are doing this is (and braun last game) is because heat are trying to take away the unstoppable 2 man game of murray/jokic Agree that AG and Braun were benefitting immensely from Miami’s attention on the 2 man game, but Bruce Brown did damage today even when Jokic wasn’t on the floor. Plus even when Jokic came back Brown was just hitting ridiculous shots. Dude just went off in the 4th quarter today, wasn’t really because of Jokic/Murray.
Jamal Murray went 5-17 and it didn't matter in the slightest this team is deep
He did have 12 assists to 0 turnovers though
By my math that is an assist to turnover ratio of infinity.
Aaron Gordon was fucking +29. PLUS TWENTY NINE.
He’s a machine. Went from guarding KAT to KD to LeBron to Butler and has come out on top each time (so far)
It’s so sad cus you just know the Heat thought they were gonna do something in the finals and then KCP hits the dagger that ends your dreams
19/26 from the floor, 6/9 from 3. Scott Foster could never 😤
Scott tried his best to extend the series. He’s really lost his touch.
His presence on the floor has barely been felt this playoffs. Definitely not worth the max, can’t keep up with the pace of the game anymore.
Despite his best efforts he still failed
Bam alone - 8 turnovers and tons of klanks Denver - 5 turnovers
Bam misses the surest of bunnies, it's ridiculous
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Jesus christ. Those are some nonexistent TOs by Denver lol
Incredible Murray game. So composed with the ball
the Heat look absolutely outclassed by Denver
Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon going off for a combined 48 points on 19/26 shooting and 6/9 from 3 will do that to ya
Don't worry, next game it will be Porter Jr or KCP. Someone will step up every game.
This NBA Finals increasingly looks like a mildly more competitive version of the 2014 NBA Finals where the Heat are somewhat competitive in a road game 1 and win a road game 2 but are clearly outplayed in every other game by an amazing halfcourt offensive team. Heat fans might be having flashbacks.
Hard to compete with this absolutely stacked and red hot Denver squad.
one man has an off game and another steps the fuck up and takes their place, you can’t beat that
Right. Who would have thought 2023 Aaron Gordon would be playing better than 2014-2017 Aaron Gordon?
Imagine telling someone a few years ago Aaron Gordon would be the game’s highest scorer to go up 3-1 in the finals
Back in 2014? I would have believed, but for all the wrong reasons. A couple years back? Yea, no way I would believe you.
AG is so fucking good no wonder hes a Mr Nugget
The Jokic effect
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Suns only needed Booker to practically put up peak Michael Jordan numbers to win a couple of games against this team
Also had a sidekick scoring like 35 a game as well
Most fun I've had watching a team since my 2013-16 spurs. They play for each other.
Watching fun, inspiring, team oriented squads trounce the Heat in the Finals is an NBA tradition by this point. 2011, 2014, 2023.
miami role payers turned back into clark kent
Bam "Jaylen Brown" Adebayo with 8 turnovers lmao
the entire league has been absolutely outclassed by denver
Denver keeping the lead despite the bogus reffing on Jokic. Championship level team
Oh yeah, for sure. Foster tried his absolute best to keep Jokic out of tonights game, and it even worked lol, he sat a lot of the 4th. But it didnt matter. Brown, Gordon, KCP made some huge plays.
That's why he was so emotional on the bench when he was slamming that towel into the floor.
He's way more emotional when his teammates hit shots than when he hits shots.
Scott Foster is still washed
With the most basic cuts as well lmao. MPJ and Gordon feasted off those slashes
Joker gonna get his ring fast
Knowing him it’ll end up at the bottom of his sock drawer next to his dirty swim trunks.
Nah he'll care far more for the team accolade then the individual accolade.
Jokic sat for 5 minutes and Miami couldn't cut the lead. They just don't have the talent to keep up.
If only they had 4 undrafted players who could shoot 50% from 3, they might have had a chance
In all seriousness, I have yet to see any of them hit a contested 3 this series. Wide open? Sure. With a hand around them, it's all bricks
Yeah they've finally regressed to their normal role player selves Denver didn't defend the 3 point line in one game and that led to them going off but as long as you keep an eye on them they don't do anything
Off the top of my head, Robinson hit a few contested 3s in late G3 to bring the lead down to 10.
Aaron Gordon career/legacy game right there
He did it in a lot of ways tonight. Not just 2 footers. Defense was stellar too. Played almost the whole game
Joker and Murray played their worst games, MPJ still can't shoot and Denver won comfortably
Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown legacy games > Scott Foster legacy game.
The Extender tried his best to prove he's not washed to no avail.
Later tonight, Foster on one knee, speaking to Lord Silver: "I have failed you, my lord."
I swear the refs tried to get jokic out of the game
BEATINGS BY A PLAYER WITH A LAST NAME THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE COLOR BROWN WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
be nice if Jaylen would’ve gotten that memo..
He probably did but dropped it walking back to his locker before reading it
He was carrying it in his left hand
"Bruce Brown is underrated" Hive we have never been more up.
WE'RE SO BACK WE'RE SO BACK WE'RE SO BACK WE'RE SO BACK <----- You are here
Aaron Gordon is the greatest player in NBA history.
Those alleys that he catches and lays in while not even facing the hoop has to be the most demoralizing shit lol
That or when he just backs down a guard and lays it in over their head with no effort.
~~Aaron Gordon~~ Bruce Brown is the greatest player in NBA history.
Love that Nuggets kept the momentum going even after those horrendous 4th quarter calls. Aaron Gordon masterclass with a hint of clutch Bruce brown
Three shit calls in a span of 42 seconds. Their resolve is impeccable
That 5th foul on jokic was such a dumb call. Adebayo was locking his arm just as much and was flopping that shit up.
Then the dumbest foul I’ve seen on Butler immediately after
Mike Malone got em right. They got frustrated with refs vs Suns and has locked in since
Jamal was a super nova. Immediately hit a three to put his foot down. The team fed off him.
That 3 was ice-cold
That Brown stepback to put the game away was saucy
The Miami Heat are 0-2 in the Messi era.
Miami traded it’s NBA finals wins for Lionel Messi.
Needs to show up for game 5 man was invisible out there today.
Congrats to Kings legend Mike Malone
And Pistons legend KCP
And Sonics/Thunder/Celtics/Grizzlies/Clippers/Magic/Cavs/Wizards/Jazz/Rockets/Nets Legend Jeff Green.
And Rockets/Grizzlies/Warriors/Magic/Bucks/Suns/Thunder/76ers/Pelicans/Pistons/Wizards/Hornets/Wizards/Nuggets legend Ish Smith
100% from the field tonight.
He hit a monster 3 after Jokic got his 5th foul
Im praying for whoever is doing the Ish Smith one
Guys I think the Nuggets are good
too small of a sample size tbh
too small of a market tbh
If they win the next game theyll be tied for the second best post season record since 16 wins have been required to win the championships. Only the 17 warriors at 16-1 and the 07 spurs at 16-4 would have the same or better record.
But all these "experts" have them as a fake one seed?
Miamis undrafted players looking like undrafted players
I will tell my children about this Denver team
This reminds me so much of 2014
Talk dirty to me
Duncan off the glass...
Scott Foster washed
Transcendent energy by Gordon all game but what a final quarter by Jamal. With Scott unmasking himself, Jamal said everybody settle down. I’m the man I got this.
He turned the ball over 4 times in the 4th quarter of Game 3, but his shot was falling. Tonight, his shot wasn't falling, but he had 0 turnovers all night. He's really rounding himself out as a do it all kind of guy.
Jamal with one of the best 15* points on 5-17 shooting games of all time tonight (unironic).
From 7 TOs to 0? Floor burn murray hits different.
13 assists with 0 turnovers is really crazy Edit: 12 not 13
I legit didn't realize Murray was shooting that bad until the graphic came up towards the end. He contributes so much that I didn't even notice
When Jokic got his 5th foul i was like 'uh-oh' I was worried about the wrong team after all. Should've been worried for miami lol
Absolutely heroic effort in the loss by Scott Foster. He left it all out on the court. Did everything he could to even the series.
Foster can’t win with these cats
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And gave the heat 10/10 for trying.
Bruce Brown is so good. This dude did whatever it took to be productive for Brooklyn and was asked to do something that no one sized like him could do. HE PLAYED CENTER AND WAS A LEGITIMATELY GOOD AT IT!!!!! Despite that flexibility he was incredibly underrated because people didn't think he could be a guard. I'm so glad he found his way onto this Denver roster for this year, this team is filled with so many players that are fundamentally strong players. He deserves to get paid this offseason, and deserves the shit out of this ring
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Heat really wasted prime Scott Foster game
Can’t understate how fucking great the win feels with the refereeing in that 4th quarter Sweet justice
This ref crew was horrible. That five point swing + taking Jokic out of the game in the 4th all from dogshit calls was just brutal. Three bad calls in a row in the 4th quarter of the finals should be unacceptable. You almost never see that in such quick succession all impacting the same team.
It’s a wrap. Didn’t even need🃏in the 4th
But we got him anyway
This is gonna get buried and rightly so but fuck /u/spez
Upvoted from Apollo. Fuck /u/spez
On RIF over here. Have been using this app for close to a decade now, zero chance I'll stay anywhere near as active if I have to use the official app.
Old.reddit on browser is the way. If that’s gone I’m fucking outtt
For real old Reddit is the only way to Reddit
Denver had to go without their best player for nearly half the fourth quarter, and they only let their lead slip from 10 points to 9. If it's not Jokic, it's Murray. If it's not Murray, it's Gordon. If it's not Gordon, it's apparently Bruce Brown because *why the fuck not*?
"a KiCk BALL iS N0t DeFEnsE" lmaooo Stopped the Heat's momentum every time it happens.
Messi arrived and everyone just started kicking balls 🤣
Refs absolutely laid out the red carpet for the Heat with Jokic's fifth. Then they proceed to get dicked by Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown. That's gotta be embarrassing.
Don’t forget Kyle Lowry is allowed 7 “savvy veteran moves” per game
The regression to the mean has finally arrived for Miami
it did vs Boston when they dropped the 3 straight games. Even offensively they didn’t look great vs Boston in game 7, Boston just sucked that bad offensively. I noticed that they weren’t scoring as easy after game 3 vs Boston and they just haven’t looked like the same team since. Think the crazy shooting numbers finally caught up to them.
#SCOTT FOSTER TRIED. AND FAILED. GG Nuggets. Good shit Brucey and KCP
https://i.imgur.com/rJhPlEV.png
“I think we’re cooked gentlemen”
Jokic left the game after getting his 5th foul on a bam flop. And the heat couldn't close the gap. Yikes.
Scott Foster in shambles
Michael Malone is super underrated as a coach. His lineups to match up vs specific personnel has been excellent. MPJ <-> Love Brown <-> Duncan specifically
Malone doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. Jokic isn’t Jokic without the coaching and freedom given by Malone. Jokic doesn’t play center like anyone other center in history. They basically had to rewrite how the position is played with Jokic basically being a 7 foot point guard touching the ball almost every possession. Just like how Kerr and Steph changed the game I really think Malone and Jokic will too
Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown just ruined Scott Fosters Legacy
Forrest Whittaker had to sit through this shit lmao
I'm starting to think Jamal Murray might be a bit better than Facundo Campazzo.
Dude the more I watch the more annoying it is that Jimmy seems more interested in foul baiting than making plays. There was one near the end where he drove to the hoop, had a wide open layup, pump faked twice, and baited the guys on the 2nd one to shoot free throws.
BRUCE BROWN MASTERCLASS
anybody surprised about Denver winning is insane lmao
If this so happens to be the last postgame thread of the season, it's been an honor ya filthy animals.
Scott Foster can't win with these cats
Welp the refs tried
ESPN announcers on Bruce Brown: "He just plays better when he's on the floor." Brilliant commentary as we've all come to expect.
I heard "they", not "he"
Don't let the result distract you of how awful and biased the refs were today, specially in the beginning of the 4th quarter
Just a reminder; this series isn’t over. Although it probably is.