After the Warriors lost to the Nuggets, Steve Kerr calmly explained why the NBA is “disgusting to watch.”
After the Golden State Warriors lost to the Denver Nuggets 120–114 on Christmas Day, mentor Steve Kerr said he didn’t have any problems with the way the NBA called the game. On the other hand, he spoke out against the rules that the officers had to follow.
In Monday’s game, the Nuggets made 32 free throws, with Nikola Jokić making a career-high 18 of 18. Even though he only made 4 of 12 shots from the charity stripe, the two-time NBA MVP scored 26 points because he made so many free throws.
“I don’t agree with how we are removing defense from the game,” Kerr said. “This is how the NBA does things. The way we teach the refs makes it easy for players to lie their way past the foul line.
“That second half of the game would not have interested me as a fan,” he said. “That was gross.”
It was just a way to get the refs to make calls. And Kerr possessed strong feelings about it at the press meeting after the game.
Curry told the press, “It does cater to those guys whose can sell calls.” “When there’s physicality, it can be hard because it changes all the time.” How does the game sound?
Adding, “Like tonight, you feel like there’s physicality on the other side and then kind like a ticky-tack on the other,”
“Being consistent is important if you want to know how to defend yourself.” It was hard tonight, and the game moved more slowly because of it.
Denver got called for 17 team fouls, while Golden State got 23. Not only did Curry get four personal fouls, but Andrew Wiggins or Trayce Jackson-Davis both got five.
Kevon Looney, who was Jokić’s main defense, restricted his shooting from the field, which led to three personal fouls being called against Looney.
On Christmas Day, the Denver Nuggets showed once more why they are the reigning champions.
To beat the Golden State Warriors 120–114, the Nuggets used a tried-and-true method: they let Nikola Jokić lead themselves down the stretch.
Denver’s bench couldn’t keep a lead for the third time. Jokić came into the fourth quarter with approximately eight minutes to go, and the Nuggets were already behind 97-94. Denver beat Golden State 26–17 over the rest of the game.
As everyone already knows, when Jokić is on the court, it’s almost impossible for defenders to stop the Nuggets in getting a good shot.
They scored twice, got a foul, and set up Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to an easy three in those four plays, during which the Warriors did not commit a hard double.
Even though Joker was having trouble with his shot that day, Denver put him up towards Kevon Looney four times in a row, right after the center came back into the game.
So far this season, the Nuggets haven’t been great. They’re in second place in the West but have four more loses than the Timberwolves. One reason for this is injuries.
Also, after a good start to the season, the bench has been a problem again as Michael Malone tries to find the best combinations.
But after a short slump, the starting five are back to their best and are now one of the most complete teams in the league.
The team of Jokić, Murray, KCP, Aaron Gordon, while Michael Porter Jr. had a 15.8 net rating going into today, which was the fourth best among teams that have played no fewer than 200 minutes together.
That group has shown what it can do since the beginning of last season. They were also put to the test in the playoffs, when tough competition made it hard for them.
Everyone in Denver’s starting five had a plus/minus of at least 10 points against the Warriors. Jokić had a plus/minus of 21.
Because of Stephen Curry, Golden State is believed to be one of the teams that can better defend against Joker.
But it’s never been easy to take advantage of Jokić on this side of the court, especially since everyone else seems so well connected. But the Nuggets are still the best at closing games when they need to.
Denver might not be the league’s best team. The team didn’t make a lot of big deals over the summer, and its success isn’t brand new like many of the other top NBA teams this year.
From one point of view, the NBA playoffs’ first weekend was a complete mess. A lot of the 16 teams hadn’t played one another in a week.
The teams they play have used that time to plan how to beat everything they did in the regular season this year.
Different teams and people feel the pressure in different ways. Team-wide skills start to fade. Teams make flaws look worse. All eight games in the first round were played within 36 hours of each other.
It’s normal to feel a little stressed out about all the things you have to do this weekend. Things will get better this week, thank goodness.
For now, though, let’s talk about one lesson we can learn from each among the eight games we played throughout the weekend.
Since just a few games are played each night until Saturday, teams are going to quickly demonstrate whether they will stay competitive or give up.