This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Robert Zeglinski.
As a Denver resident, I don’t want to sound like a massive homer (I’m not even from there). But I think I’m more qualified to say this than most: Keep doubting Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets’ title chances at your own risk.
It’s kinda weird that I even have to warn people about the Western Conference’s top seed with an MVP-caliber player humming at the peak of his powers. Just ask my colleagues at this fair website about a conversation we had Monday morning. But that’s what it feels like sometimes whenever LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers are brought up. Or Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Or Kevin Durant/Devin Booker’s Phoenix Suns.
The common refrain this spring so far has been that the West is “wide open.”
Is it? Is it, really?
The Durant-Booker Suns just gave the Nuggets their best shot, and Jokic smacked them around so much that he started pointing to his ring finger along with his adorable daughter.
These Suns were supposed to be a team that gave Jokic’s Nuggets a run for their money. All the pre-made excuses before the series started were there.
The Nuggets didn’t have the defense. The Nuggets didn’t have the horses to keep up with Durant and Booker. Despite literally coasting to the West’s No. 1 seed — Jokic sat five of his last seven regular-season games for playoff rest — the Nuggets were a pretender, a glorified paper tiger.
And yet, here the Nuggets are, with a commanding 2-0 series lead over a team many thought would be an NBA Finals shoo-in. Here they are erasing Durant from Phoenix’s game plan — he’s three-of-15 on three-pointers so far — while eliminating the Suns’ offense down the stretch entirely.
Even with Phoenix bringing a better defensive effort to Denver in Game 2, it didn’t matter. The Nuggets were prepared to win ugly, like every great team. And like the superstars on West teams that Denver apparently has no chance with, the Nuggets had Jokic ready to pick up the slack with a 39-point, 16-rebound, five-assist masterclass.
Why, it’s almost as if a conference’s top team from the jump, with depth AND legitimate star power, should probably be taken more seriously. Charles Barkley put it best around Jokic and the Nuggets in the post-game: We should enjoy their greatness more.
I’m not saying Jokic and the Nuggets are a perfect squad. Despite their stellar work shutting Phoenix down so far, they have significant flaws to overcome. It remains to be seen if they can be consistent on defense.
But how is that any different from the other assumed title contenders left in the NBA playoffs?
James’ aging Lakers feel like they’re liable to lay an egg at the worst possible times. If Curry doesn’t drop 50 for the Warriors, they don’t seem serious. The Philadelphia 76ers are riding high right now, but Joel Embiid can’t stay healthy. And the Celtics’ appear to have a glaring lack of focus, leading to inopportune clutch blunders that let opponents hang around. Never mind the thin Suns relying on a 34-year-old Durant.
So, here’s my caution to you.
The West is actually wide open for a Finals run. For Jokic and the Nuggets.
Quick Hits: Ranking Kentucky Derby horse names … RIP Gordon Lightfoot … more.
- The Kentucky Derby is this weekend! My pal Charles Curtis ranked the horses’ names and another pal, Blake Schuster, has the early winner odds.
- RIP Gordon Lightfoot. Here’s some of the singer-songwriter’s best work.
- A look at 1 thing we liked about every NFL team’s 2023 draft class and our post-draft power rankings.