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It didn’t seem possible as recently as a week ago that anyone could stop the Joker from rampaging into his second NBA title. This guy was playing like a person indestructible and so far beyond being stopped that it wasn’t even worth trying.
Then the Minnesota Timberwolves stampeded into Denver and put a Rocky Mountain-sized avalanche on the Joker and his Denver Nuggets teammates who had to be figuring a second title was inevitable. This presumption was not even close to true, it has turned out, with the Wolves annihilating the defending champs in so brutal a fashion in Games 1 and 2 you have to wonder about the psychological stability of Denver heading into Game 3 in Minnesota where their opponents know they’re better and so do the Nuggets and a home crowd screaming to get the Wolves to the next series and on their way to the franchise’s first title ever which seems inevitable.
Ironically, just days ago basketball experts were describing Jokic’s second title as inevitable and now it’s inevitable he’s not going to win his second title this year and probably never again because the Wolves outmatch his team and this won’t change.
Strategically, the Wolves have figured out how to stop the Joker. They cover Aaron Gordon down low not allowing Joker to hit him with alley-oop passes that make Denver inevitably victorious. Shutting that down, they force Gordon to take outside shots which is not his strength. Yet the most surprising thing about Denver’s embarrassments last night was Joker couldn’t dominate against only one Wolves big man, Karl Anthony Towns, with the other giant, Rudy Gobert, not playing due to the birth of his child.
Surely against one big Joker would have his way and Denver would even the series. Surely, that did not happen. Making the situation worse, Denver’s Jamal Murray isn’t quick or explosive enough with an injured calf to be effective scoring against the gaggle of Wolves players who relish playing snuff-off defense.
The masterminds behind this stunning beatdown of Denver are the two coaches who, at one time, were assistants for Denver who studied all Joker’s moves every day. That stint gave them the intellectual insights to make the exact right adjustments to render this great basketball player merely just another one who could be flummoxed and frustrated.
Beyond strategic brilliance, the Wolves possess athletic brilliance in The Antman, Anthony Edwards, who in the last few weeks has ascended from a good player to, arguably, the best. Who a week ago would have predicted the Joker would be dethroned as the world’s basketball player by a 22-year-old from the Minnesota Timberwolves?
Answer: not many.
But this is where we have arrived.
It’s inevitable.
No joke.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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