2020 Playoffs vs Nuggets

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it's here!

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...t-nikola-jokic

Though the night started off with smiles and congratulations, Mitchell had one of his worst games of the season, going 1-of-12 from the field and finishing with just four points, and it took a 37-point performance from the Jazz’s newest addition, Jordan Clarkson, to keep the game close.

Looks like they've done a good job on him all year. Hopefully if his shot isn't falling he's not forcing it and passing to open teammates. One Clarkson on the team is enough!

With Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale also failing to make much of an offensive dent that night, Clarkson took over. While fans can often point to games where Clarkson plays a little too much in isolation, it’s a game like the one in Denver that serves as a good reminder that sometimes you need a guy on the court who can just get a bucket, and after the game Snyder said that’s exactly what he loves about Clarkson.

Except for the game before last and the scrimmages he's always playing 1 on 5. There were a few games where it was nice to have someone hitting shots but mostly he has to go!

The Nuggets are 3-4 in the bubble with their last seeding game against the Toronto Raptors on Friday. They also rested stars in some games but had one of the toughest schedules in the season restart. What became abundantly clear for them is that their defense is nowhere near where they want it to be. Of the 22 teams in the bubble, the Nuggets have the worst defensive rating, and head coach Mike Malone said it’s his biggest concern heading into the playoffs.

That's where this series will be won and lost. Both teams can score points

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...s-nba-playoffs

Can only imagine if he'd been here with Rudy.

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...t-nikola-jokic

With two of Denver’s starters, Gary Harris and Will Barton, injured, they’ve turned to Torrey Craig and Michael Porter Jr. while in the Orlando bubble. Craig has done an unbelievable job on Donovan Mitchell this season, hounding him to the point of nearly keeping the Jazz star scoreless in their first meeting this season. It’s forced Mitchell to work quickly to get the ball out of his hands and work more off-ball.

I'm guessing Harris and Barton are playing. Doesn't sound like they are hurt seriously

In order to free up Mitchell, the Jazz could easily work to switch Craig onto someone else, or allow Conley to become more of a facilitator when Craig and Jamal Murray are guarding him and Mitchell, since the Jazz can get past Murray with more ease.

They have other options. This isn't Rubio and Favors anymore. This series will be won by defense not offense

Ingles and O’Neale will be tasked with guarding Paul Millsap and Porter, respectively, and those could end up being really key assignments. The Nuggets’ length on offense is their greatest weapon outside of Jokic. Slowing down Jokic and Murray is going to take a 48-minute effort, but when Ingles and O’Neale aren’t on the floor, the Jazz lose the edge in holding back two of Denver’s most lengthy and lethal outside shooters in Millsap and Porter.

Shouldn't O'Neale be on Murray?

Spurts and flashes is what we’ve seen so far from the Jazz in the NBA bubble. Even in the double-overtime loss to the Nuggets, the Jazz fell off and got sloppy during portions of the second half. If they aren’t able to find some consistency through the game, this will be an even tougher uphill battle than it already promises to be.

It's what we've seen all year at least defensively

Likewise, if the Nuggets are without Harris and Barton throughout the series, Denver’s bench production could become a liability. The team that is able to maintain effort and efficiency from its reserves could end up with a pretty significant advantage.

still have more depth than the Jazz without them

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...s-nba-playoffs

While both players were taken by the Nuggets (Gobert in 2013 and Mitchell in 2017), the circumstances of their trades to the Jazz were pretty drastically different. Early in the 2013 pre-draft process, Gobert was considered a potential high lottery pick, but his stock tumbled in the months leading up to the draft and he slipped to the 27th pick.

I don't remember him being considered a top prospect. They talked about his record length. He was drafted where he was supposed to as far as I remember

The Jazz benefited greatly when both players came to Salt Lake City for pre-draft workouts. Gobert had struggled in some previous workouts with other teams, but later stories were told of how he dominated in Utah, which led the Jazz to trade the 46th pick (Erick Green) and cash to the Nuggets for the Frenchman.

They bought the pick. It was known before the draft that the Nuggets were selling it. Gets old hearing how they drafted these guys. They drafted them for the Jazz. These trades are made before the picks

As such, the Gobert trade was largely a side note on a night Utah made numerous moves (it also traded for Raul Neto, the 47th pick that night).

Who was obviously better than Burke the first time he set foot on the floor in summer league and was sent overseas anyway. Typical Jazz move

Of course, both Gobert and Mitchell have made the Jazz look smart and the Nuggets not so much, as the duo leads Utah and both were named All-Stars this season, coincidentally hearing the news while on a road trip in Denver, just hours before playing the Nuggets. It’s interesting that their paths through the draft, and the expectations placed on them before their careers began, were so different when everything they would do moving forward would be linked and in lockstep.

It makes every team who could have drafted them look bad.

It’s not that the Jazz’s roster lacks depth beyond Mitchell and Gobert or that the weight of the Jazz’s postseason success is squarely on their shoulders, but given the state of the Jazz, without Bojan Bogdanovic and underdogs in the series, if the pair don’t play well, there’s little hope for the Jazz to advance. That means increased minutes, increased responsibility and increased pressure.

I see them as the favorite. They at least have stretches where the D doesn't suck

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...g-nikola-jokic

The Nuggets are 3-0 against the Jazz this year, although the latter was that double-overtime game in Orlando last week. While the Nuggets don’t have a superstar like James Harden or Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul, they do present a couple of serious problems for Utah’s two best players.

In what world is Jokic not a superstar? Doubt anyone in the league would take Westbrook over him and I doubt many would even take Harden over him

For the Jazz to win, they’re going to have to get excellent performances from Gobert and Mitchell because without Bojan Bogdanovic, they just don’t have the firepower to match the Nuggets, who seem to come at you from all sides.

Plenty of firepower. Mitchell, Conley, Gobert and Clarkson surrounded by shooters is plenty. Can they defend is the question?

The Nuggets may not have the superstars, but they have much better depth than the Jazz, who can’t rely on double-digit games from the likes of Rayjon Tucker and Miye Oni, who played well in those games in Orlando the Jazz didn’t care to win.

They don't need it. They need other guys to hit open shots, defend and play their roles

The Jazz need Mike Conley to keep playing the way he has through much of the bubble season and definitely will need more production out of Joe Ingles, who hasn’t shot well over the last two weeks.

Joe just needs to be Joe. He's not a scorer. Quit trying to make him out to be one

You can tell what the NBA thinks about the Jazz-Nuggets matchup. The first three games are all in the middle of the day Utah time, 11:30 a.m. Monday and 2 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday. The two teams don’t get a prime-time game until Sunday, when the Jazz play their second “home” game at 7 p.m. MDT.

Probably was the best game in the bubble too!

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...the-nba-bubble

The Nuggets, who finished the season as the No. 3 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference, feel like they have all the necessary pieces, but concerns that plagued them in the postseason last season — injury and depth — are still cropping up, and defensive problems have begun to mount with the playoffs right around the corner.

Might be the deepest team in the league. They traded away good players at the deadline they have so much

A reserve rotation of Torrey Craig, Monte Morris, Malik Beasley, Jerami Grant, Mason Plumlee, Porter Jr. and a smattering of others sometimes left players with DNPs for no reason other than there weren’t enough minutes for everyone.

that sound like a depth issue?

After the annual All-Star intermission, the Nuggets were gearing up for the home stretch of the season and realizing that small defensive lapses here and there throughout the year were becoming a regular occurrence. Denver had the 10th best defense in the league in 2018-19 but was slowly dipping throughout the 2019-20 season and was regularly letting their offense dictate the game rather than the other way around.

sounds like the Jazz

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...rt-quin-snyder

Bogdanovic was lost in the offense, the defense was horrible and the Jazz looked disjointed. Fast forward to a few weeks later, and the Jazz were 8-3 to start the season and things were looking pretty good. Conley was struggling a little, and so was Ingles in his new role on the bench, but that was something everyone knew would take some time to get used to.

Everyone didn't know that. People were expecting him to be a 6th man. He's not a scorer. There was real concern about his contract and if he was getting old

Even still, the Jazz shot through December and January with a 19-2 run that was a huge part of why Mitchell and Gobert earned their first All-Star bids. After a big roster shakeup right at Christmas time that saw them waive Green and end the Dante Exum era with a trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers that brought Jordan Clarkson to Utah, the Jazz started to look like they were filling out nicely.

Dante Exum era! Gobert should have already earned his all star berth over the past 5 years. Mitchell got his on hype

But as the calendar turned from February to March, it really started to feel like the Jazz were beginning to find a groove. They’d turned away from playing Davis, giving Tony Bradley more minutes behind Gobert. Conley seemed like he was starting to settle into something comfortable, Bogdanovic was shooting the lights out and, as always, Mitchell and Gobert held the fort down on a nightly basis.

Bradley started playing when they got Clarkson. Niang to the 4 for Green. Mudiay had been playing well before that with Conley out

Then in May, just as some of the noise regarding the two All-Stars started to die down and the NBA was finalizing plans for an isolated restart to the season in Orlando, the Jazz announced that Bogdanovic would be having season-ending surgery on his injured wrist.

Why didn't he have it in March?

The Jazz used to have the identity and reputation of a defensive juggernaut. With rising stars and one of the best centers in the league, it was clear what you’d be getting if the Jazz were your opponent. Now, heading into a first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, there’s not much that’s certain about this team. Actually, the only good constant in the bubble seems to be the player that was most inconsistent through the season, Conley.

He wasn't though. Had a few bad games to start the year is all

They could be a deep team with a second unit of Clarkson, Bradley and Georges Niang holding onto a lead for the starters in perfect form, or they could be a Jazz team so desperate for help that they’ll turn to any number of players who scored their first NBA points during roster experimentation in the bubble.

They aren't deep. The rookies give them some hope on that front now at least though

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Jeremy Woo: Mentioned this yesterday, but a couple quick draft clarifications. Per sources, the NBA will break ties tomorrow between NOLA and SAC (lotto teams tied pre-bubble), and HOU/OKC/UTA (playoff teams tied post-bubble) to finalize the draft order outside the lottery.
– via Twitter JeremyWoo

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Donovan Mitchell: Congrats to my guy @Mike Conley and his wife Mary on their newborn!!! Somethings are just bigger thab anything!! Happy for you bro

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https://www.deseret.com/sports/2020/...ts-mike-conley

Maybe the Jazz should take a similar approach. I’m not saying rest the starters and only throw in G-Leaguers against Denver. But, while Conley is gone, would it be so bad if Miye Oni was a part of the regular rotation?

Some of the rookies should be playing regardless. Need more size, length and D. I'd start with Morgan and Brantley at the 4 but more size on the wing with Tucker, Oni and Brantley would be nice as well

I freely admit that I could be wrong. The Jazz could finally make everything click, Conley could come back, the team could beat Denver and keep winning and shock the world. The NBA is undefeated in weird things happening. But, I wouldn’t bet on any that occurring.

I think they should be looking to beat Denver rather it's with rookies or whoever next to Rudy, Mitchell, Ingles and O'Neale.

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https://saltcityhoops.com/three-time...obert-as-dpoy/

The “midseason swoon,” Hollinger mentioned was indeed very frustrating to watch, and might have had something to do with the now-public tension between Gobert and fellow Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell. Many of the voters spoke very highly of Gobert but if he comes in second, that slump might be what costs Gobert the award.

they want to give it to someone else. Giannis probably deserves it. Davis might get it just because

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Eric Walden: Donovan Mitchell’s first postgame comments: “Huge shoutout to Juwan Morgan. He did a hell off a job. … I know a lot of people were probably confused by the move, but we trust him. Shots to him for stepping up.”
– via Twitter tribjazz

Yep loved his hustle. Play more of those kids. Nice to finally see a real PF on the floor again!

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Shams Charania: The New York Knicks are hiring Utah Jazz assistant Johnnie Bryant as associate head coach under Tom Thibodeau, sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium.
– via Twitter ShamsCharania





an Begley: Knicks will add Utah assistant coach Johnnie Bryant to Tom Thibodeau’s coaching staff, SNY sources confirm. Bryant is viewed as a strong player development coach. Bryant worked w/Utah’s Donovan Mitchell during his Jazz tenure. Bryant’s addition was 1st reported by The Athletic.
– via Twitter IanBegley

He was Millsap's personal coach before he coached the Jazz and was working with Hayward before Mitchell. Might be hard to replace him

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Andy Larsen: Johnnie Bryant will stay with the Jazz for the duration of the playoffs.
– via Twitter andyblarsen