Three takeaways from Nuggets starting fast, hanging on to beat Lakers in Game 1

By May 17, 2023, 12:22 AM EDT
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For the better part of three quarters, it looked like the Denver Nuggets were going to make a statement with a blowout win. They didn’t, they barely hung on.

In the final minutes, it looked like the Lakers were going to steal Game 1 on the road. They didn’t, coming up just short.

Both sides exit Game 1 of the Western Conference finals with positives and some things to work on, but only the Nuggets left with a win at home, 132-126. Game 2 is Thursday night in Denver.

Here are three takeaways from Game 1.

1) The Lakers came out flat and it cost them Game 1

The Denver Nuggets came out of the locker room playing with the force and determination of title contenders: Their offense looked crisp running through Nikola Jokić, players and the ball moved, they defended well enough and they got out in transition every chance they could. Denver was aggressive and looked like a team trying to make a statement as their lead ballooned to 18 at the half.

The Lakers came out with a lack of defensive urgency, which dug them a hole they never climbed out of.

“Yeah, it took us a half to get into the game and that was pretty much the ballgame right there,” LeBron said. “They punched us in the mouth to start.”

The Lakers’ biggest problem early — and all game, really — was the inability to get stops.

The Lakers started with a smaller lineup and found themselves reacting defensively early, rather than trying to impose their will, and that left them half a step slow. It showed in how little they impacted Denver’s off-ball movement. It showed on the boards, where the Nuggets had nine offensive rebounds in the first quarter — six by Jokic — and led by a dozen after a half.

It showed in transition defense, where the Nuggets pushed the pace and started 28% of possessions in transition in the first half, the Lakers were slow to get back, the Nuggets didn’t fear the Lakers small guard in transition defense, and it led to a lot of open baskets.

The Lakers eventually found their focus, but they could never fully close the gap.

2) In a battle of strengths, round one went to Nikola Jokić and the Nugget offense

Game 1 was entertaining in the way high-scoring affairs often are, with great shotmaking by both sides and both teams having an offensive rating above 130. Plus, it was a good night for over bettors.

It was not a good night for the Lakers’ defense, which had been the best in the playoffs through two rounds (and the best in the NBA after the All-Star break). Denver’s defense was not impressive either. Whichever side figures out its defensive answers first will advance to the NBA Finals.

That didn’t make the offensive fireworks any less impressive.

Nikola Jokić was brilliant, finishing with 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting, a ridiculous 21 rebounds, and 14 assists. Yes, another triple-double, but maybe more impressively he outrebounded the Lakers 16-13 by himself before halftime.

Part of the Lakers’ slow start is that the Nuggets have shooters everywhere, they move to get open, and you need to keep a body on them or Jokić will find them. It led to a balanced attack for the Nuggets with six guys in double figures.

Jamal Murray was 4-of-8 from 3 on his way to 31 points.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21, Michael Porter Jr. had 15, Bruce Brown had 16 off the bench, and Aaron Gordon added a dozen.

3) The Lakers found things that worked they can bring to Game 2

Darvin Ham and crew made a miscalculation coming into Game 1 — they came out small, with essentially a three-guard lineup of D'Angelo Russell, Dennis Schroder and Austin Reaves next to LeBron and Anthony Davis. The Nuggets tore that up and built their big lead.

But the Lakers adjusted, and some of those changes will be back for Game 2.

Offensively, Davis and LeBron were able to get the shots they wanted. AD finished with 40 points of 14-of-23 shooting (after starting 2-of-8), plus had 10 boards.

LeBron was one assist away from a triple-double of 26 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

The biggest in-game adjustment was to have the size of Rui Hachimura as the initial defender on Jokić — Hachimura is big enough and strong enough to give the two-time MVP as much trouble as anyone is going to. Hachimura on Jokić also allowed Davis to roam as a help defender, his preferred role.

Along those same lines, the Lakers found something with big, non-point-guard lineups (or, non-traditional point guard, they do still have LeBron on the court). Size mattered, Denver is a big team and the Lakers figured out they have to match it.

Then, of course, there was a master class from LeBron, getting the switch he wanted and attacking a defender, often backing Murray down in the post.

“I’d rather clean things up after a win in the Western Conference finals than after a loss, so I will take it,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “But much work to do… Thursday night, it’s gonna be even that much harder because they’re gonna get off to a better start, I imagine. And so our game plan discipline and our defensive acumen have to be a lot better for closer to 48 minutes.”

Let the adjustments begin.

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Heat play their game — hit 3s, grind, own fourth — to even series with Nuggets

By Jun 4, 2023, 11:16 PM EDT
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DENVER — It was a recipe familiar to Heat fans (and one that kept Bucks and Celtics fans up at night):

The Heat hit their 3-pointers at a seemingly unsustainable rate, 17-of-35 (48.6%). They got physical on defense and mucked up the Nuggets’ offense for stretches. Nikola Jokić was a scorer (41 points) but the Heat didn’t let him get the ball moving, allowing just four assists. The Heat were relentless and took advantage of their opponents’ undisciplined plays. The Heat owned the fourth with 36 points (to the Nuggets’ 25).

It was the recipe that got Miami to the NBA Finals and it won them Game 2 in Denver, 111-108. The NBA Finals are now tied 1-1, heading to Miami for Game 3 on Wednesday.

That familiar recipe included Miami’s role players stepping up as they have all postseason. Gabe Vincent scored 23 with 4-of-6 from 3, Max Strus started hot and finished with 14 points and six assists, and Duncan Robinson came off the bench for a hot start to the fourth quarter and scored 10 points that helped change the game.

Their stars made plays too, both Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo scored 21. Butler had nine assists, Adebayo nine rebounds, and both made critical defensive plays. Everyone on the Heat stepped up when they had to.

“First, It’s part of our DNA for one, everyone on this team has been knocked down, we’ve faced adversity and gotten up again,” Vincent said when ask how the Heat keep having these kinds of games. “Second, we have a lot of experience in these close games.”

While Heat culture makes a good story, this is ultimately about the 3-point shooting — the Heat shot better than 50% from 3 in three of their four wins over the Celtics, and they have been having games like this all postseason. This was a game they shot their way to a win with those 17 threes. The Heat had 11 shots in the restricted area in Game 2, half of their regular season average — they just hit their jumpers.

For the Nuggets, it was about the mental and effort lapses they avoided in Game 1 that caught them in Game 2. The Nuggets played with the arrogance of a team that believes it’s the better one in the series and can flip the switch.

“Let’s talk about effort. This is NBA Finals, we are talking about effort; that’s a huge concern of mine,” a fuming Nuggets coach Michael Malone said postgame. “You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn’t play well. We didn’t play well. Tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami. Start of the third quarter, they scored 11 points in two minutes and 10 seconds. We had guys out there that were just, whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off, this is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That to me is really, really perplexing, disappointing.

“I asked the team, I asked them, ‘you guys tell me why they lost.’ And they knew the answer. Miami came in here and outworked us, and we were by far our least disciplined game of these 16 or 17 playoff games, whatever it is now. So many breakdowns. They exploited every one of our breakdowns and scored.”

The Heat got what they wanted from the opening tip. On offense Max Strus was hitting — 4-of-7 from 3 in the first quarter alone — but it wasn’t just him. Heat midrange shots that clanged out in Game 1 dropped through the net Sunday. More importantly, having Butler start the game defensively on Jamal Murray along with Adebayo on Jokić slowed the Nuggets’ go-to pick-and-roll. Miami got the lead all the way to 11 as they pulled the game into the mud they needed to win.

However, in the final five minutes of the quarter the Nuggets started to find their legs and their offense — all thanks to their bench.

Christian Braun made two hustling defensive plays in a row, the second turning into a Jeff Green breakaway (where Haywood Highsmith fouled him). Then a Bruce Brown 3. Then a Jeff Green 3. Then a Murray 3. Then an Aaron Gordon 3. It was a Rocky Mountain avalanche of 3-pointers and the Nuggets started to pull away.

Denver’s run stretched out to 29-8 and the Nuggets led by as many as 15. However, as the teams returned to their starting lineups, the Heat got their groove back — Strus, Gabe Vincent and Butler were all in double digits in the first half. More telling, Kevin Love (inserted into the starting lineup for Game 2) was +15 and Strus +10 as all the Heat starters were in the positive. On the other end, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was -14, highlighting a rough night that eventually led to him fouling out.

Their bench had Nuggets were up 57-51, and it helped they won the non-Jokić minutes at the start of the second quarter by 14.

The start of the second half again saw the Heat increasing their defensive pressure, doing better in transition, and doubling Jokić in a way that bothered him. This slowed the Nuggets down and had them getting into their offense late, and it was back to a slow, grinding, Heat style of game.

That kept most of the third quarter tight, but in the final minutes of the half — when Bam Adebayo went to the bench — Jokić made plays, he finished with 18 points in the third alone, and the Heat entered the fourth ahead 83-75.

Then the relentless Heat made their run, with Robinson going on a personal 7-2 streak that grows into a 13-2 Heat run that puts them up by three.

From there, the Heat did their thing — they hit threes and played intense defense. The Nuggets didn’t match that energy until they tried to flip the switch in the final couple of minutes. They almost got it, Murray had a 3 to tie the game at the buzzer that bounced off the rim.

But the Nuggets lost the game much earlier.

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Edwards, Brunson, Reaves reportedly among commitments to play for USA at World Cup

By Jun 4, 2023, 7:52 PM EDT
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Steve Kerr will be coaching a roster filled with some of the most engaging young stars of the NBA at the World Cup this summer.

Names are starting to leak out of who has accepted invitations to play for USA Basketball this August and September, and it feels like a who’s who of the best young players in the league: Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Mikal Bridges, Austin Reaves and Bobby Portis.

This is just the start of the roster, but it is a young and athletic group that can shoot, move the ball and play at pace — deep wells of athleticism have long been one of the USA’s biggest strengths in international competitions.

The World Cup will feature 32 teams around the globe in an almost three-week competition. The USA is in Group C with Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo (assuming he plays), New Zealand (Steven Adams, if he plays) and Jordan.

The USA will be coached in this World Cup by Kerr, Erik Spoelstra of Miami, Tyronn Lue of the Los Angeles Clippers and Mark Few of Gonzaga. The USA will meet for a camp in Las Vegas and play Puerto Rico there as a tuneup before heading to Abu Dhabi and eventually on to the World Cup in the Philippines. The World Cup starts Aug. 25 and continues through Sept. 10, and the U.S. will play all of its games in Manila.

The World Cup is the primary qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics (the USA does not automatically qualify as the reigning gold medalist). USA Basketball President Grant Hill has said that playing in the World Cup is not a prerequisite for playing in the Olympics.

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Phil Knight says he still wants to buy Trail Blazers, still waiting for team to be available

By Jun 4, 2023, 5:59 PM EDT
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Phil Knight — not a man known for his patience — is waiting.

The Nike founder still wants the chance to buy the Portland Trail Blazers to ensure they stay in Portland, reports Rachel Bachman of the Wall Street Journal. However, the team remains unavailable. More than a year ago Knight and Dodgers co-owner Alan Smolinisky reportedly offered more than $2 billion to buy the Trail Blazers. Jody Allen, who currently runs the team on behalf of her late brother Paul Allen’s estate, said there is no plan to sell the team right now, and it could be years.

Knight continues to try and buy the team, the Journal reports.

So Knight and Smolinisky tried again, according to a person familiar with their plans. On numerous occasions, including earlier this year, they made it clear to Jody Allen that they still wanted to make a deal. They indicated that they realized the price had gone up and that they were willing to pay more than their initial offer, this person said. Again, Knight’s calls to Jody Allen were diverted to Kolde [Bert Kolde is the Executive Vice President of Sports Strategy at Vulcan Inc., which owns the Blazers and Seahawks], and nothing came of the brief discussions.

A few months ago, Smolinisky even sent a handwritten letter to Jody Allen seeking common ground and saying he and Knight would love to discuss the Blazers with her, according to a person familiar with the matter. In response, Smolinisky received an email from someone replying on Jody Allen’s behalf with a familiar message: Paul Allen’s sports teams aren’t on the market.

Paul Allen died of cancer in 2018 and some reports say his will requires the Trail Blazers — as well as the NFL’s Seahawks — must be sold within 10 years of that date, with the money from the sales going to a variety of charitable causes. We are halfway into that window.

In the case of the Trail Blazers, it would be wise to wait until the new national broadcast rights deal — which is expected to double, at least, the league’s television revenue — is locked in, raising the franchise value. Values have already gone up, with the Phoenix Suns being valued at $4 billion when Mat Ishbia bought them last December.

In the short term, the Trail Blazers and their fans are focused on the NBA Draft, where they have the No. 3 pick but are reportedly open to trading that for the right veteran to put next to Damian Lillard.

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By Jun 4, 2023, 1:51 PM EDT
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In the 24 hours since the last time we put together a list of coaching updates from around the NBA a lot of things transpired, some expected, some not.

Here’s an update on the NBA coaching carousel.

• As was rumored to be coming, former Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts will join Adrian Griffin’s staff with the Milwaukee Bucks. This is a smart hire, putting an experienced coach known for creative offense next to the rookie coach on a contending team. With the Bucks getting older and more expensive quickly — 35-year-old Brook Lopez is a free agent this summer — the Bucks don’t have time for a rookie coach to figure things out on the job.

• Kevin Young will stay in Phoenix on Frank Vogel’s staff after new owner Mat Ishbia made him the highest-paid assistant in the league at $2 million a year, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Devin Booker reportedly backed Young to get the head coaching job, although how hard Booker pushed is up for debate. Keeping Young on staff — likely in an offensive coordinator role — next to the defensive-minded Vogel could be a good fit.

• Former Hornets coach James Borrego was in the mix for several jobs but has settled in New Orleans, where he will be on Willie Green’s staff. This team is stacked with offensive talent — Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum — if they can just stay on the court.

• There is now just one head coaching vacancy open around the league, the Toronto Raptors, and they are entering the final interview stages, reports Josh Lewenberg of TSN. Among the finalists for the job are Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez and highly-respected European coach Sergio Scariolo (the head coach of the Spanish national team and Virtus Bologna of the Italian league).

• The makeover of the Celtics coaching staff could go even deeper than expected because Ben Sullivan, Mike Moser and Garrett Jackson are all leaving Boston to join Ime Udoka‘s staff in Houston, reports Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.

• Former Pacers player Shayne Whittington is now a part of Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff in Indiana.

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