Before the game between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves, Jokic received his third MVP trophy in four years. This time it was more formal, after all, the last time he received the trophy was in front of his stable. And today's game also fully proves why Jokic should have been a four-time MVP.
The Nuggets won at home to Kings Mountain, and have won three consecutive games against the Timberwolves after a 0-2 series. It's hard to explain why the Nuggets have the quality to win three games in a row but lose so badly in the first two, and that's exactly what happened.
One of the Timberwolves' pre-game bad news was that Conley missed the game due to a sore Achilles tendon in his right leg, which made the Timberwolves' already stretched backcourt even more unavailable. And the disadvantages of Conley's absence were evident from the beginning of the game.
Alexander Walker, who replaced Conley, had a good hand, but it was limited to being able to shoot goals. Conley is not there, all the pressure on the Timberwolves to handle the ball is on Huazi, and the Nuggets' response is very simple and simple, that is, to play with your life and pinch you.
Huazi's ability to handle the ball has improved this season, but obviously it hasn't improved enough, and she still looks frizzy when handling the ball in the face of high-pressure defense. And the more this happens, the more the Nuggets will flank you.
Except for Huazi, the Timberwolves really had no one to handle the ball, so they had to bring Morris, who was previously outside the rotation. In fact, both Walker and Morris played well today, so when Huazi scored 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 turnovers in 1 of 8 in the first half, he was only 6 points behind the Nuggets.
Today, in addition to Huazi's inability to deal with the pinch shot, Towns and Reed fell into foul trouble prematurely in the second quarter, resulting in extremely bad space on the Timberwolves' court, which is also one of the objective factors limiting Huazi's play. The Timberwolves are still young and often pay for pointless fouls.
Of course, it was Jokic in the third quarter who really decided the outcome of the game. Jokic shot 6-of-7 in the quarter, with 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. The four assists came in four straight rounds, from 55-55 to 57-64, and Jokic led his team to a 9-2 spurt with assists before holding the advantage firmly into his own hands.
From the very beginning of this game, Jokic was hanging Gobert in a fancy way, and the near-rim was unsolvable whether it was a throw or a hook. Jokic has also teased Gobert with his feet under the basket more than once.
I think Gobert wants Jokic to flex his muscles with him, but Jokic also knows that flexing muscles is not his strong point, so he is using a soft touch to break Gobert in the near frame. At the end of the third quarter, Jokic's offense was unstoppable, Jokic scored when he didn't assist, and his impact on the game was unmatched.
After the third quarter, Jokic had 35 points, 5 rebounds and 12 assists on 13-of-17 shooting. The Timberwolves' interior was basically ravaged by him, hitting a three-pointer on the head of Kyle Lee, making countless throws in front of Gobert, showing off his touch in front of Towns and putting Reed in foul trouble.
Although Gobert was beaten badly today, there are actually few people in the league who are better at defending Jokic than him. If you look at how Jokic broke down the Lakers, you'll see that the way he broke down the Timberwolves' interior is still different.
Against the Lakers, it was Jokic who showed off his muscles. Jokic's ass squeezed to the basket and easily put the basket, when the thick eyebrows are there, they can still interfere with Jokic, and when the thick eyebrows are not there, it is not too simple for Jokic to score two points.
Against Gobert, Jokic has added a lot of mid-to-long-range shots and near-frame throws, and he no longer will hit the ball to the basket as easily as he did against the Lakers. This may prove that Gobert is still a threat to Jokic, at least under the basket.
But it was only limited to the basket, and Jokic used his own way to overshadow Gobert's DPOY trophy once again. How to defend Jokic? When the best interior defenders in the league can't do anything about Jokic, all I can say is go all out and let him pass.
Today, Jokic had 40 points, 7 rebounds, 13 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers, another player after Paul in 2018 to score 40 points, 10 assists and 0 turnovers in the playoffs.
A lot of people say that Jokic played lightly, but that's not the case. When have you ever seen Jokic dunk two baskets in a game? Jokic's fighting stance in the last game, pushing the transition with all his might, and the momentum of the game running wild in the fast break, he knows better than anyone how much he wants to win.
In this round of the series, the biggest difference between Jokic and Huazi is that Huazi can be targeted, as long as the Nuggets spend enough defensive resources, they can limit Huazi's play. Jokic, on the other hand, can't be targeted, he can crack any defensive lineup, and he can put the ball in no matter who is in front of him.
Jokic proved why he is the undisputed number one in the world, and of course, for Huazi, this is also the way he grows up.