Spidaman vs Joker and The Legion of Lightskins; The Official NBA TV Playoff Series [Nuggets vs Jazz]

[Smoking With Cigarettes]

Fast Facts:
Denver is 3-0 vs Utah this season but every game has been within a margin of 6. In all three of these games Utah was leading heading in the 4th before unwraveling in the last half of the quarter. A closer matchup than the season series would indicate

Utah is without Bojan Bogdonovic. Den is without Gary Harris and Will Barton

MPJPLS is the slotted starter for Denver

Final Notes:
Jokic vs Gobert is the headline matchup but without Gary Harris you can expect Spida to get wherever he wants most of the time on the court. Utahs core has more playoff experience than Denver's but there's so many X factors in this series that it is a genuine toss-up. I'd be surprised if we didn't see a 7 game series

Spoiler

@Flex Grossman @T.he I.nformant I need y'all to tag the Nugget fans I can never remember anyone's usernames besides you two

Apologies to the Jazz brehs on here, I've never actually been in a Jazz gamethread so I don't know who reps the team vs people who just like Donovan/Rudy

 

[Flex Grossman]

@nightwing2016 @RajWatts

nuggets in 5. Utah has no forward depth. MPJ and Grant will eat. Rudy can’t guard Jokic either. If TC can do a half way decent job on Mitchell, we might sweep.

 

[T.he I.nformant]

Is Gary really out for the series? My man had three months to get healthy.

 

[NoMorePie]

Nuggets in 6

 

[Flex Grossman]

Is Gary really out for the series? My man had three months to get healthy.

Him and Barton being out are concerning. No games since March and they aren’t healthy enough to suit up for a playoff game?

 

[T.he I.nformant]

Agreed, sweeping the season series don’t mean shyt. I expect it to be a close, competetive series. I would feel a lot better if we had a healthy Harris and Barton. They can without them but the depth is going to be tested. At least this means MPJ will continue to get minutes.

 

[T.he I.nformant]

Him and Barton being out are concerning. No games since March and they aren’t healthy enough to suit up for a playoff game?

That’s what I’m saying. Did they get injured in the bubble?

 

[Dwight Howard]

Ima say nuggets in 6. With the emergence of porter, denver has much more offensive power. I think utah is outmatched in that aspect. However, I think snyder gets atleast 2 wins based off strategy.

 

[Flex Grossman]

That’s what I’m saying. Did they get injured in the bubble?

Gary got to the bubble late and hasn’t practiced or anything. Will was practicing before the scrimmage games started, so maybe he got hurt in practice. Malone hasn’t really said shyt about it

 

[Flex Grossman]

Also worth mentioning: Mike Conley’s wife is expecting, and Conley has already said he will leave the bubble to be there for the birth. No idea how far away she is, but there’s a chance he’ll miss games.

 

[Derek Lee]

Nuggets in 6.

 

[010101]

spida.top.shotta my g

byrdgang.nikola the brightskin.battalion(& bol²) rolling deep though

rough

*

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

I'll be surprised if this series goes past six. Bad matchup for the Jazz.

 

[Smoking With Cigarettes]

I'll be surprised if this series goes past six. Bad matchup for the Jazz.

Normally I'd agree but there's a couple factors that make me hesitant about Denver putting this away early, the biggest is the trade they made with Minny. Denvers greatest strength is roster consistency which allows Jokic to get those insane passes off since he knows where the guys will be. Since Will/Gary gone for now this is where the Nuggets will miss Malik and Juancho. For all their faults Jokic was familiar with how they play and where they'd be. Another factor is their perimeter defense in the bubble has been although that is harder to guage due to the inconsistent rotations Malone has deployed

I'm assuming their rotation will be something like

Murray, Craig, MPJ, Millsap, Jokic with Monte, Plumlee, Grant, and Dozier off the bench. That rotation is capable of winning this series but I can't sleep on the Jazz's core either. It could be because I like Donovan but I can see him stealing a couple games off Denver. I can also see Denver going ice cold in a game but continuing to chuck 3s. However, if we get a locked in and aggressive Jokic every game, this series doesn't see 6

 

[Nero Christ]

Nuggets in 6...Utah still struggles to score