The Nuggets equation seems insoluble for the Lakers. Once again, Los Angeles led but, once again, Denver ended up taking the upper hand in the second half…
With his 29 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Gordon particularly hurt the “Purple & Gold”. In the first quarter, he took advantage of a California defense focused on Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to make himself forgotten on the back line. And appearing several times behind a LeBron James who had lost it.
“We have to choose between the plague and cholera and I just have to wait for the bottom line to clean the trash.”
His offensive rebounds, an area in which the Nuggets again dominated the Lakers, and his use as a pivot while Nikola Jokic rested did the Nuggets good. But it is above all its ability to finish the work at the end of the chain, to take advantage of the shifts from the “dunker spot”, which is particularly valuable.
“It’s so good to play with these guys” he explains. “They are so talented. They are so good that they make the game easy. Jamal, Joker, MJP, KCP… They attract so much attention on offense that if we don't send the help, the defensive rotation, they will set you on fire, and they will continue to set you on fire. So we have to choose between the plague and cholera and I just have to wait at the bottom line, to clean the trash. »
This major five is now known by heart, and the good hands of Aaron Gordon are a treat for Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray, each time an opposing rotation is missed or late.
“We have a very resilient and very intelligent group” Aaron Gordon continues. “So when we have to make adjustments, we put them in place very quickly and we execute them very quickly. »
What is very interesting, especially in this Game 3, is that if Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are still at the base of the vast majority of mismatches created by the Nuggets, Michael Porter Jr. is progressing in the area.
“Nikola Jokic is a basketball genius. Turns out he's a genius and he happens to play basketball. He makes the game very easy and when you see the game like that, everything unlocks”
Several times, we saw him take advantage of a somewhat kamikaze “closeup”, notably from Rui Hachimura, to attack the interval, triggering new assists and rotations. And serve Aaron Gordon in turn.
“The open man is the right man or the right man is the open man” (the open player is the good player or the good player is the open player) summarizes Aaron Gordon, who no longer knows exactly what the formula is, probably preached by Mike Malone. But the power forward notes that there is a form of telepathy in the Nuggets' major five.
“Nikola Jokic is a basketball genius. Actually, he's a genius and he happens to play basketball.” he laughs to conclude. “He makes the game very easy and when you see the game like that, everything unlocks. We see the actions upstream, we are two or three moves ahead and the game becomes much easier for everyone. »
And much more difficult for the opponent…
