![]() ![]() Jokic and Murray added their names to that list Thursday night - Murray had 26 points, 10 assists and six rebounds and Jokic extended his NBA record with his ninth triple-double in these playoffs, getting 27 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds. Heading into the series opener, only Michael Jordan in 1991 and Russell Westbrook in 2012 had at least 25 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in an NBA Finals debut. Their Game 1 performance put them in some elite company. ![]() If you want to simplify the game of basketball, it comes down to separation.“īoth Murray and Jokic are three-level scorers who can shoot 3-pointers, make midrange jump shots and drive to the basket. “The second part of that is he also knows that if Nikola has the ball and he screens, his man has to help, which will give him separation. ”Jamal from early in his career here, he’s shown that he’s willing to go and set a screen on a big guy, small guy, doesn’t matter, because he’s tough. Some guys like to slip out of every screen because they don’t want to make that contact, they don’t want to give themselves up,“ the coach added. “The reason it was so effective, aside from the obvious - two really talented players - is that Jamal is big, strong, physical and not afraid of contact. It was Nikola handling and Jamal setting. “And most people would just assume that it was Nikola setting for Jamal. 1 pick-and-roll combo in the entire NBA was Nikola and Jamal,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone recalled. Whereas Malone set up almost all of the screens for Stockton when they were Utah Jazz teammates, Denver’s version is ambidextrous, doubling the difficulty of deciphering much less defusing it. But the Nuggets do it with a different twist. They’re entering the pantheon of pick-and-roll royalty of standard-bearers John Stockton and Karl Malone. The Nuggets’ run to what they hope is their first NBA championship is being fueled by Jokic and Murray. The Nuggets’ potent duo has been nearly unstoppable in powering Denver’s 13-3 run through the playoffs, including a 104-93 win in Game 1.Ī win Sunday night would make them just the second team this century to win its first 10 home games in a single postseason. Spoelstra knows what the Heat are up against it’s nothing new for Denver. “You go down the list of myriad of things you can do defensively, you have to check off some things that you don’t really want to do because of both their ability to score and Jokic’s ability to create something off-script.“ One guy is a triple-double machine that loves to get guys involved,” Spoelstra said. “Yeah, where do you start? You have two guys that can score 50 in a playoff game. DENVER (AP) - Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra practically snickered when asked about neutralizing the effective two-man game played by Denver Nuggets teammates Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. ![]()
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