Last night the Denver Nuggets blew their chance to become the first team in NBA history to win a playoff series after being down 0-3 by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in game three of the western conference finals. Jamal Murray led the way with 28 points on 10-17 shooting and 12 assists. Nikola Jokić scored 11 in the first quarter and then slowed down a bit finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists. Lebron James notched another playoff triple-double, his 26th, with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He’s now 5 away from breaking Magic Johnson’s record and becoming the all-time playoff triple-double leader.
My general rule of thumb is, the shorter the description of a record, the cooler it is. “Most championships.” 2 words, very cool. “Most hits by a 3rd baseman in September.” 8 words, not that cool. “Most playoff triple-doubles” contains a hyphenate which we’re going to count as one word bringing the total to 3 words, pretty damn cool.
Denver led 93-75 at the end of the third quarter only to watch the Lakers cut the deficit to 3 with a furious push in the 4th. Rajon Rondo just took the ball away from Denver whenever he wanted and LeBron kept sprinting down the court for dunks, but all that effort cost them, and an 18 point lead is its own kind of defense. The Lakers ran out of gas and the shots started coming up short. Murray found Millsap under the basket for a dunk, and buried a pair of threes to put the game out of reach. But here’s what I want to know:
How on earth is Paul Millsap logging the kind of minutes he’s logging? Surely this time could be used to develop Michael Porter Jr. who is already giving you a more efficient contribution off the bench. I get it, Millsap’s a veteran, he’s steady, but he’s not hitting 3’s and while he generally seems competent getting to the rim, he’s clueless when he arrives. To be fair, most of the Nuggets appear a little lost when they meet the Laker shot-blockers. Only Jerami Grant and Murray have figured anything out; Grant manages to finish or get fouled, and Murray pulls up before he meets the second line of defense.
In close is where I think Plumlee could be a real asset. He’s got a limited skill set to be sure, but he has good hands, he hustles, and most importantly, he plays big. Just imagine if Jokić had an actual big guy to pass to inside and didn’t have to whip the ball to the three point line/out of bounds all the time. The other potential candidates, Grant, Millsap, and Porter Jr., are all obsessed with the perimeter. Plumlee is the only one who likes to mix it up in the paint, and, unlike Jokić, can actually dunk.
For bigs the Lakers have all-star Anthony Davis, who’s big-ish, and Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee who are both awful. McGee started last night’s game and played 8 minutes and Dwight Howard’s main contribution at this point is baiting Jokić to commit dumb fouls. Make LA keep one of those guys on the floor. Think about it Michael Malone. Why not experiment? I know you’re trying to go down 1-3 anyway, so try some goofy lineups. Get Dozier back in there, have some fun. Lose game 4 and then you’ll have the Lakers right where you want them.
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