Game 68: Denver Nuggets (47-20) vs. Dallas Mavericks (38-29)

[dirkfansince1998]

Good post.  Dominating the boards against a huge, physical team is shocking and impressive.  The Gafford/Lively combination really frustrated Jokic and he an uncharacteristically mediocre game.  The Nuggets will not want to face us in the playoffs.  

Kidd does deserve some credit for making a change that has resulted in us winning 5 out of the last 6.  I didn't think Gafford as a starter was wise.  It seems to be working well though.  Having Exum back really helps us tremendously to always have two creators on the floor.  

My one criticism is playing Maxi at PF over DJJ in the late 4th.  DJJ is a better player than Maxi.  DJJ was having a really good game.  DJJ is hitting a much better percentage from 3 and can drive to the rim and finish.   Maxi is useless on offense.  DJJ should have been in there over Maxi.  

Otherwise, it's hard to argue with the results.  We beat the best in the West in one of the most exciting games of the year.

Good night, Luka.  
Good night, Kyrie.
Good night, Exum.
Good night, Lively.  
Good night, Mavericks.  Good night, air.  Good night, Mavs fans everywhere.

Maxi and PJ guarded Jokic 1vs1. That's why Kidd went big. Gafford and Lively played help defense off Gordon. So it wasn't really about Lively/Gafford themself. More about a big lineup. Gafford had really good timing as the help defender and rarely gave up the backdoor cut. Lively had a rough game on defense. Gave up a few easy dunks/layups/FTs (especially in the first half) when he lost track of Gordon in the dunkers spot. Jokic just knows how to read the help defender and waits for the smallest movement in the wrong direction (similar to Luka). Tough task for a rookie. On the few occasions where he ended up as the post defender he looked really good.
Lakers tried something similar last year. Almost worked out but in the end Jokic was just on another level. They had Hachimura on Jokic and AD playing help defense off Gordon.

To close out the game Kidd played PJ and Maxi because he wanted to switch the Murray/Jokic pick and roll without creating mismatches. Kleber started on Jokic. PJ on Murray. Would assume that DJJ wasn't on the floor because he cannot switch onto Jokic.
As far as defense goes it worked out but you cannot get away with Maxi/PJ/Gafford on offense. Not sure if DJJ would have made a difference but at least he can put the ball on the floor. Luka and Kyrie played 2vs5 on offense. Iso ball against double and triple teams. Needed some miracle shots to pull it off.