“Nikola Jokic is the BEST center ever!” – ESPN on Denver Nuggets beat Charlotte Hornets 115-106

What the Nuggets have done now is we welcome you into Nuggets Postgame Live. Christopher Dempsey alongside Bill Hansick. This is the best 23game start in team history. 17 and six is what they are. No matter what you think of what they’re doing at home, this is the best 23game start in the team’s history. It I can’t fathom that you’d win 10 straight. I think it was my sunglasses that did the trick because defensively demps in the second half Charlotte just 48 point. You’re not gonna beat the the the Nuggets if you only get 48 points and a half because the Nuggets were didn’t have their A+ offensive game, but they still scored bunches. Yeah. And uh 130 run uh I think that second was that second quarter they had 130. Um you know, they’re just able to do that. Yeah. Yeah. They’re able to score when they need to. Um and Jamal Murray, he’s been a scoring machine uh lately. He was again today. 34 points in all, 23 points in the first quarter alone, hands. Uh he was looking for his shot early and often. Yeah, you he just he got good shots. I mean, that’s I mean, you see these going to the rack mid-range. It wasn’t wasn’t every even that shots a great shot. Wide open behind the arc. Um yeah, Charlotte just didn’t have an answer to him. Uh I love that little fake. fake like you’re gonna throw a bounce pass and bank it off the three. So hang this is what his week has been. 52 points at the Indiana Pacers, 23 at the Hawks with 12 assists and then today 34 points on 14 of 25 shooting. If that’s not the player of the week, I don’t know who is. Whoa. I I don’t even know how to total them. Wait, that’s 10 109. So that’s like 38 a game. 36 a game shooting over 50% shooting like 60% from threes and you won and you won correct and that’s the the biggest part the thing that he cares about the most is the wins right and I I think the the interesting thing to me about his week is that the different faces of it two you have bookend high scoring games and then you have a game where you are making plays uh for you you didn’t force it after you scored 52 those are incredible numbers if you were at home but all those games are on the road yeah they’re on the road he’s flurrying for game. Yeah, flurries everywhere uh with Jamal Murray this week. All right, Nicole Joic. Yeah, he’s as steady as they come. 28 points again tonight. 11 assists again tonight. Nine rebounds again tonight. Had a steal as well. Uh hands this guy, he just he shows up to the game, he puts all the stats in, his team wins, and then he moves on to the next opponent. Oh wow. Yeah, it it was like one of those games where Joker just said, “Okay, I’m going to play enough to win, but it’s going to be a rest game. I’m going to get some rest in this game.” You know, he didn’t bulldoze people inside all the time, but you know, at the end, he hit a couple threes, four for eight from three-point line and the 11 assists. It’s always, you know, I was told I had a buddy here tonight. Uh, and I told him, I said, you know, Jeff, he’s kind of like John Elway throwing passes. Yeah. Like John Elway Chevrolet, you know, down on Broadway. They just throw those passes. 11 dimes. 11 dimes for Nola Joic in this game uh tonight. All right, we’re going to take a quick break here on Nugget. Nuggets. Yeah. uh the most enjoyable win in a while because it was a little bit grimy and we’ve been scoring the ball so easy. Uh we did early and I think uh you know the way they played they made some tough shots. They were playing super hard defensively. Uh they made the game a grind. Uh so it was good. It was good for us you know to win a game like that and the opponent doesn’t matter when you’re just thinking about yourselves and you’re trying to get through the season and only 115 for us is extremely low. I mean as of late. So, um, the 106 number, I thought the way we switched all their small small stuff, uh, led to a really solid win. After the first quarter, how did you see? Yeah, I thought the first quarter was kind of who we’ve been in the first half. A lot of these games, we were getting up and down. U you know, both teams were seeing the ball go in. Obviously, Jamal was. Uh, so I think once we got ourselves out of that kind of game, that pickup style game, especially the third quarter, the intensity really ratcheted up. Uh we put ourselves in a good spot, only down two. Uh once we took the lead, I thought we, you know, for the most part really controlled the game from there. What’ you see Jamal get to in that first quarter? Just I mean the patience right now taking his time. Uh and I told the guys in there, this is the best Nugget screening team we’ve had in a long time. Uh guys giving themselves up. I can go down the line. Bruce, Peyton, uh Spencer, Nola, Yonas, I mean, all these guys, Tim, uh you know, making the effort to get a hit for somebody else to allow them to have success. And sometimes the assist total 30 is great, but you go back and you look at the screen assist numbers and what creates offense behind that. So, it’s a an unselfish thing that guys in the NBA don’t all want to do. And our team, for whatever reason, this year has been very successful at doing it. And on that note, I think I might might be wrong in this, but I think this is the best start in franchise history. What do you feel like that’s a product of? Uh togetherness, um injuries, you know, all the the schedule stuff. I just think these guys have been so um you know, just moderation of attitude. Just stay the course, do your job nightly, uh face the next challenge, uh prepare properly, uh with film and and walkthroughs and practices. It’s just a very professional veteran group. uh if it is the best start in history, I don’t think uh you know they’d care either way. I think they just want to go play the next game, prepare themselves properly, like I said, and this is a long long long marathon and you know, this is a good start to the season, 17 and six and the road uh streak that we’re on, all those things. So, it’s um yeah, it’s a cool thing. It’s a really fun group to be around every day. Guys just really love basketball and they love the preparation of it. And then finally, is this how you envisioned Tim fitting in? Yeah. And I I just when they got when I got the call that Tim was, you know, possibly available, uh when we got him, I just knew immediately the impact of what that was going to be. A veteran player off the bench that can finish games, that can flip games with his shooting. And I think you saw tonight and defensively, you know, when he sits down and, you know, Tim, you know, he can’t play 40 minutes, but the 26 was so impactful. Uh I just I thought he gave great effort on both ends and just having a space guy like that on the offensive end that’s always there you have to guard. Um he’s such an impact player for us and and you know I very lucky to have him on the roster. Best start I don’t know if you answer best start ever in Vegas history. Was that mean anything to you or just one more game? Yeah I told Katie I just think it’s I don’t think I think our guys just want to keep playing. I don’t think they look at it you know it’s something you look back on later probably. you know, it’s a cool stat and all that, but we’re just looking for the next day uh the next day to get better um and prepare for Sacramento as best we can this week and get guys right that are banged up. Uh so, yeah, it’s a it’s a cool thing, but it’s just 23 games in, you know, a long way to go. Hans, I want to pick up on something that Coach Adam was talking about in regards to Tim Hardaway. Um and I guess I want to ask you this way. When the Nuggets signed him, um what did you think then? Is he and is he exceeding your expectations right now? Uh, better than I thought first off. Second thing, my my vision of Tim Hardaway is that he’s a guy that will just kind of roll in game. Just kind of roll on and then he will outright win maybe one out of eight games, 10 games, he’s just going to shoot lights out from behind the ark and be sort of somewhat the star of the PL game. But but what what he does, he’s such a threat behind that three-point. It it fans out the defense that it opens driving lanes and it creates more opportunities for Jamal, Joker, Cam. Um just love having this guy on their team. Such a smart player, too. Yep. Uh 14 points for him. Adelman talked about this being a really good screening team. He said the best screening team um in in the history of the Nuggets. And uh Tim Hardaway is a really big part of that. I mean, he is a really good screener. they can get a lot of mismatches with him as well. So, uh, they have a couple plays where it it sets up where if the defense reads it wrong, he can he could fan for a three or, uh, or the other screener with him will cut back door and you might get a layup. So, puts a lot of pressure on the defense. Yeah, no doubt. What a great uh player for the Nuggets. And, you know what, De, he’s a good better defensive player. Yeah. Gets up, pressures guys, wants to be physical. He wants to be physical and you know look he played for Detroit last year that was a very physical basketball team and he’s just carried that straight over here with the Nuggets. So just a great find for the Nuggets this offseason. All right let’s take a quick break here on Nuggets postgame live. We come back we will break this game down even more [Music] with the the full court p. Yeah. Just kind of sneak in. Get it. Give me the ball. Give me the ball. Yeah. Yeah. He tried a couple of good in this game. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, it’s a it’s a big deal. Um Payton Watson, uh when you think about his game today, he look, he’s just been a very active, steady player. Uh but what did you see out of you know what I liked? He really struggled with his shot from behind the arc, but that pass was a low pass, so he enabled him get his legs into the into it and he knocked down that three. And then the these other ones are cutting hard cuts to the hoop. Uh making some plays there. Yeah, he stays active. There’s no doubt about that. Especially when Joic has the ball, he knows uh he can probably he probably will get it. All right, Payton Watson uh is in the locker room with Arcadi Wii. All right, Payton, best start in franchise history. What has allowed that to take place? This is our best start in franchise history. Best start like what the 22. Y’all heard that? You heard that? Yolk. Best start in franchise history. I thought we were mid, honestly. I thought there were some things we need to get better at. Um myself included. But um nah, it’s a great group of guys. We’re super serious about, you know, our approach to the game and I think that that shows when we go out there on the court. Obviously, there’s some things, like I said, we need to clean up, but this is a good start for us and uh we look to get better from here. The way that everybody stepped up in the absence of players that have been injured, yourself included. How would you describe that? Uh it’s been huge. It’s been huge to have people that can come in and contribute in different ways and find ways to pull out wins night in night out. Um, and it’s tough. I mean, those are guys that are, you know, it’s hard to replicate what they do out there on the court, and it’s hard to make up for what we miss without them, but we’ve been doing just, you know, as much as we can to get these wins, and I know that those guys are proud of us, and when they come back, we’re going to be a hell of a ball club. What level would you say that the duo of Nicole Yokic and Jamal Murray are playing at right now? Uh, one of the best duos in the league, and they have been since my time here. Um um this what I’m used to seeing from those guys, but just the focus and the intensity from them has been amazing. Jamal’s been picking up full court, really really carrying us scoring wise in those first halfs and making the game easy for the rest of us. And then Yoke just doing what he always does and being that perennial superstar for us. Um it means the world and you know, I never take for granted playing with those guys every night. It it really is a part of history and I’m I’m a part of that. Coach Adelman called this win a grimy win and was particularly pleased with it in that way. What does it say about this team that you’re able to win in a multitude of different ways? Absolutely. I think it says a lot about our team that we we can win and look great and we could win and we could get those grimy wins. You know th those mean the world and we got to we got to get them both. Whether it’s pretty or it’s ugly, we got to come in and try to win as many as we can and that’s what we did tonight. So, I’m proud of our guys for getting this gritty win for sure. part of this interview was when uh Katie says, “Hey, this is the best start in team history.” And he looks around and he says, “I thought we were mid.” Which means he didn’t think that bad cuz I see you looking at me with the glazed eyes. I’m a glaze. It means that he didn’t think that they were that good. Um but they are that good. And but I I do want to ask you um h how much better is this team even though it has started this way? Wow. They’re really, really good. I mean, A+ good offense. Defense kind of that B minus, but can be a minus at points during the game. Like tonight, the second half was incredible. Um, they’ve got to get that better, but I think what Gordon and Brown get back that that could really help the defense. Yeah. No, I agree with you a thousand%. All right, speaking of defense, it’s time for our breaks plus stop of the game. And that is going to be Yeah, that Pton Watson block leading to this Jamal Murray run out. Oh yeah, all the way to the rim. That’s a tough shot going back to the right hand. Payton got a nice deflection on that three and you know Charlotte start off, they made six out of their first 14 and then the Nuggets just closed off that three-point line. Two of Jamal Murray’s 34 points. He was a plus 14 in that game. came out. Peyton Watson plus 10 in the everybody’s plus. Every all the starters plus and that’s where you want to be. And and Tim Hardaway as well off your bench. All right, let’s take a break here on Nuggets Postgame Live. Uh come back, get more reaction from the locker room. [Music]

“Nikola Jokic is the BEST center ever!” – ESPN on Denver Nuggets beat Charlotte Hornets 115-106

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