Nikola Jokic has been fighting for the Denver Nuggets for 35 minutes and is a bit hesitant to walk. In the final seconds, however, he used all his strength to jump off and block a layup by Jonathan Cuminga, possibly equalizing, to win a valuable victory for the Nuggets. Fakundo Campazo then missed a free throw to give the Warriors another chance to equalize, but veteran Andre Iguodala conceded the last three-pointer 2 seconds before the finale.
On December 29, the Denver Nuggets narrowly defeated the First-place Golden State Warriors in the West 89-86 on the road. Stephen Curry became the first player in NBA history to shoot 3,000 career three-pointers and equal his own record of 157 consecutive three-point shots.
However, this milestone battle is a game in Curry's lost state, and the first game in which Draymond Green was unable to play because of the triggering of the NBA's health and safety agreement. This game also makes people intuitively see the value of Green in the Warriors.
After the game, Warriors guard Gary Peyton II said: "We miss him tonight. ”
Juan Toscano Anderson said: "The team needs someone to bring energy, and I think the responsibility is on me. I started in place of Green, so I should be the first to take responsibility. The next game I'm going to try to get better. ”
After the Warriors lost Draymond Green, the entire team was in trouble, they had no purpose, they struggled like they lost their souls, and tried to find Curry with every ball.
Without Green on the offensive end, The Warriors put Tuscano Anderson in the lineup, imitating Green in some ways and trying to maintain the same style, but without a dealer who can bring them together in a coordinated way, the whole team operates in uncertainty. Just look at some of the Warriors' possession rounds in the first quarter, which was usually passed by Green at the top of the arc with the ball.
The picture above is one of the Warriors' eight turnovers in the first quarter. The Nuggets forced Curry to have to control the ball more and master the offense, and too much possession also made Curry make 4 mistakes in the first quarter. There were too many moments like that in this game, and the Warriors threw the ball to Curry hoping he could do something, but Curry couldn't do anything, couldn't shoot anything.
The Nuggets frantically targeted and pinched Curry. Curry always has to have a defender in front of him, and the defensive Curry has to stick to him like a plaster.
This is probably the Nuggets' strategy to defend Curry.
Tonight at chase center, Curry was completely inaccurate in the first three quarters. When you are unlucky, you will stuff your teeth when you drink cold water, and when Curry feels cold, even the penalties that have always been not wasted will not be punished. With 7:40 left in the fourth quarter, Curry was on the free throw line, warriors home fans chanted MVP, and then Curry unexpectedly missed the free throw. Prior to that, he had only scored 11 three-pointers and shot 2-of-9 from the field.
Curry said: "This is the first time [this season] that Green has been missing, and he has orchestrated a lot of our attacks, especially when I play without the ball. The Denver Nuggets made a crazy game plan, seeking physical confrontation and maintaining a high level of concentration. ”
If it weren't for Andrew Wiggins, who had just stepped out of the health and safety agreement, who supported the Warriors' offense, how could he wait until the Warriors played the moment of offensive climax in the last quarter.
If your team lacks the best interior lineman in the team, it will be a torture when you face an MVP-level interior like Jokic. During the game, you can feel the Warriors' defensive end slipping after Green wasn't around, seeing Kevin Looney go against Jokic, who singled several times against Nemanja Bjelica. The Warriors without Green had to put more defensive attention into Jokic, which gave the Nuggets a chance for some of the Nuggets' other players, notably Will Barton. "General Patton" was so powerful in the first half that he scored 14 points in the first quarter. The Nuggets scored 60 points in the first half to lead the Warriors 60-36.
Barton had 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, and in the final minute of the game, his key layup helped the Nuggets regain the lead.
'With so many injuries going through us, we limited our points to 86 points at their home and we worked hard enough to win the game and I'm incredibly proud of our players. Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said, "I think Will Barton contributed very, very important performances in the final stages of the game. ”
But it's hard to say in this game that defense is the key to the Warriors' loss. They conceded only 14 points in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth quarter, and with both sides "wretched" and trailing by 24 points in the first half, the Warriors almost managed to reverse the game. The Warriors held the Nuggets' offense back at the start of the third quarter and hit a 17-5 surge that narrowed the Nuggets' lead to 65-53. With 7:20 left in the fourth quarter, Curry took a three-pointer to trail the score to within five points, after which Curry hit a three-pointer to make the score 84-82 with 2:08 left in the game.
At the time, many people were already thinking: Curry's single quarter broke out, and the Warriors' script of winning by relying on a wave of reversal seemed to be about to be staged again.
In the end, the Warriors still didn't win because they didn't have enough scoring points. The Warriors couldn't get more points, in part because of the lack of Green, who often had a much bigger impact than the 10 points he got in a single game.
Also playing tactically at the top of the arc three-point line, he and Curry have a deep relationship. Curry set up cover, everyone will get empty seats, and Dream Can see everything on the field. Payton said.
Jokic played a crucial role in key moments by taking a Team-high 22 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 1 win-steal block for the Nuggets, Malone said: "That's why he's a great player, you need this style of play to deserve to win like this." ”
Curry played 39 minutes and 5 seconds in this game, nearly 5 minutes higher than the season average. Warriors coach Kerr said about Curry's playing time after the game, and he responded: "Tonight's game situation is like this, the only way we want to win is to let Curry play more in the fourth quarter." It was difficult for us to score without him, so I decided to let Currydo play. ”
This season, every team is battling the coronavirus and injuries. In the past half a month, multiple players have triggered agreements every day, and every day a group of players have been unable to play. Jokic played in such a situation, and Curry had to play. As Jokic put it, "You can't control everything that happens in the NBA, let alone the world." We can only try to win every game and do our best in this moment. ”
In tough times, both MVPs are practicing their leadership responsibilities with their actions.