Initial thoughts from the Nuggets’ 129-124 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in the second round of their Western Conference playoff series:
1. Can Jokic go for 50 in playoffs? Yes. Yes, he can. Turner Sports analysts Reggie Miller and Greg Anthony were in unison a few weeks back when they told reporters that they wanted to see if Nuggets star Nikola Jokic could carry the offense by himself in a critical postseason game. After Sunday, it’s safe to say we’ve got an answer. Despite a weird scrum with Suns owner Mat Ishbia late in the first half, the two-time MVP wound up passing the 50-point mark with more than a minute left in a nip-and-tuck game, setting a personal scoring high in the playoffs with 53 points. The Joker had already tied his previous postseason best for field goals made (19) with 48 seconds left in the game, adding credence to Shaquille O’Neal’s take during the TNT halftime show, that Jokic “is the best center in the game.”
2. Bench blues. Nuggets coach Michael Malone warned us, didn’t he? Bench and role players come alive at home. It’s been the story of this series, too, especially once Landry Shamet got going. With 7:33 left in the game, the Nuggets’ reserves were getting outscored by the Suns’ bench by a whopping 28-9 margin. Phoenix finished with a 40-11 advantage off the bench. That was a total flip of the narrative from Games 1 and 2 at Ball Arena, where the Nuggets outscored the Suns off the bench, 36-28 combined, to help take a 2-0 series lead. As much as stars Jokic/Murray and Booker/Durant hog the spotlight, guys in six through nine in the rotation have been another telling narrative.
3. Owner flops. Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo taught Ishbia well. First off, if anyone other than the owner of the Phoenix Suns plays keep-away with the basketball during a game and delays an inbounds play, that fan is shown the door. Instead, the combo of Ishbia — a billionaire who played for Izzo at Michigan State — and Jokic gave us the most bizarre viral video of a bizarre series. Jokic appeared to chicken-wing the smaller Ishbia while reaching for the ball in the stands, which might not have been the wisest call, in hindsight. Ishbia played it for all it was worth, though, as he appeared to roll with the contact and flop back into his seat, essentially drawing a technical foul for his team and earning them a point in the process while whipping an already emotional crowd into a fury. The league office is going to have a ball with this one.
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