On April 28, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the Warriors narrowly defeated the Nuggets at home today 102-98, and the total score swept the Nuggets 4-1. Before the game, the Warriors announced their starting lineup, and they lined up: Curry, Poole, Klay, Wiggins and Draymond Green's starting lineup, which was regarded as the "new death five".
However, the new five small lineup did not achieve the desired effect, but was also suppressed by the absolute advantage of the Nuggets' inner line. Jokic's connection with his teammates continued to damage the Warriors' interior, and the Nuggets had a 10-point advantage in the third quarter, and they also saw hope of pulling back another city. Fortunately, the Warriors stopped losses in time to readjust the lineup, coupled with Curry's crazy performance in the second half, he single-handedly pulled the Warriors back on track. Especially after scoring a layup 30 seconds before the final game, Curry, who killed the game, made a good night's sleep gesture, and also announced that the Warriors became the first team in the West to advance to the second round.
And the Warriors' new five-small lineup obviously has a lot of problems and is very unstable, and they almost screwed up. After the game, Warriors coach Kerr was interviewed, and when it came to the five small lineups that started today, Kerr said: "The use of this lineup is to kill Jokic at the beginning, maybe it can drain his physical strength, but also leave looney enough time to deal with Cousins." It didn't work out, so we immediately threw Mike Brown's rotation watch into the furnace. Iguodala's absence and the move we made to the starting line-up made all the rotations need to be adjusted, and we haven't used this set of starts for a whole year. "It's clear that Kerr threw the pot of the small squad directly to assistant coach Mike Brown, and I don't know how Coach Brown will feel when he hears Kerr's words.
On the other hand, the Nuggets, their injuries this season, especially the absence of Porter Jr. and Murray, also made Jokic lose his "right and left arm". But even so, last season's MVP winner Jokic still brought the Nuggets to sixth place in the West, which shows that Jokic's ability to lead the team is so strong. However, the intensity of playoffs is not the same as in the regular season, and they still encounter warriors who have established a dynasty, and the results can be imagined. On 12-of-18 shooting, he had 30 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks, which was also Jokic's last stubbornness.
However, as the absolute core of the Nuggets, Jokic's contract has only one season left, and the Nuggets have not yet offered Jokic an early contract extension. Speaking after the game about his eligibility to sign the biggest contract in history this summer, Jokic said: "If the contract is on the table, I will accept it. "It's clear that this is Jokic's reminder to the Nuggets management that he has made his position clear and loyal to the team, and it's up to the Nuggets to see what they do.
In response, ESPN salary expert Bobby Marks wrote that Jokic can sign a super-maximum salary contract worth $254 million in the history of the offseason, and in the last season of this contract, the 2027-28 season, Jokic's salary can reach $57.8 million. If the Nuggets complete the renewal of Jokic's contract, then Jokic's contract will also exceed the 5-year 228 million of alphabet brothers, becoming the largest contract in the history of the NBA league. So what do you think about it? Welcome to leave a comment below!