![]() ![]() “That’s the versatility that they have,” Williams said Friday of the small-ball 5 look with the bench. Throw in Green (22.5 MPG) at the 4 or the 5 coming off a great series and there are your eight guys. Rookie Christian Braun (12.7 MPG) is someone who Williams said in the past definitely does not play like a rookie and brings a lot to the table with his quickness, shooting, defense and IQ. While Denver only played eight guys, the three reserves are a prominent part of who they are, a key differentiator with Phoenix.īruce Brown (27.0 minutes per game) is a skilled guard while also being one of the league’s most unique players thanks to his screening ability and defensive versatility. His net rating in 113 minutes for the first round was 13.4. Nothing quite stuck, so at least against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that plays a big group, Denver went with Green. Denver went through offseason signing DeAndre Jordan, 2020 first-round pick Zeke Nnaji and trade deadline acquisition Thomas Bryant at backup center over the season. The first number is highly influenced by a few huge runs from the bench and a degree of separation, so don’t treat it like a legitimate change just yet, but it indicates Denver is onto something.Ī big change for that group in the playoffs has been the implementation of veteran forward Jeff Green at the 5 in a smaller look. Even stranger, it was just 3.7 when Jokic was in. In the short postseason sample size of just the 60 minutes Jokic sat, Denver’s net rating was 20.1. The net rating when he sits, however, was -10.2, an unfathomable gap of 22.7 points per 100 possessions, per NBA Stats. In the regular season, Denver outscored teams by 12.5 points per 100 possessions when Jokic was on the floor, one of the top marks in the league. But it may have stumbled onto its solution, and the Nuggets are in a fantastic position if their incredible improvement in Nikola Jokic-less minutes holds up. It has one of the best starting fives in basketball and reserves capable of swinging playoff games.Ĭoming into the postseason, though, the bench was a huge liability for Denver. 3: Freeing up Kevin Durant, Denver's largest testĭenver does not need that. The site predicts that the Suns will win the series against the Nuggets, 4-2.Suns-Nuggets preview, Pt. Add in a leaky defense that ranked just 15th, per NBA.com, and has to guard elite scorers in Durant and Booker, and the result will be a second-round exit for Denver." Sportsnaut: Suns will take down Nuggets in six games 1 seed and went just 12-11 after the All-Star break. Greg Swartz writes: "It's tough to trust the Nuggets, who nearly coughed up the No. Still, the Suns are growing every game that Durant and Booker are on the floor together." Bleacher Report: Go with the Suns to defeat Nuggets in seven games Phoenix possesses all the offensive firepower between stars Durant and Booker, but Denver can lean on its depth and overall cohesiveness under coach Michael Malone, the NBA’s fourth-longest tenured coach. Wright writes: "The winner of this series likely winds up in the NBA Finals, especially when you consider the dogfights in progress on the other side of the bracket with Sacramento and Golden State. NBA.com: Suns will beat Nuggets in seven games Two pick the Suns to win in six games and two pick them to win in seven. Three writers have the Nuggets winning the series in six games, while two have them winning it in seven. Sporting News: 5 of 9 experts pick Nuggets to win series vs. ![]() Which team will win the series and advance to the Western Conference Finals?Ĭheck out these picks and predictions for the NBA postseason series. 1 seed Denver Nuggets face off in the Western Conference semifinals of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. ![]()
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