Heavy is the head who wears the crown? According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, that’s what the Nuggets are experiencing. Jamal Murray was out an extended period, they had to play five games in seven days, and they are taking everybody’s best punch.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone was proud of the way his weary team hung around in a loss to Sacramento on Saturday. They don’t play again until Wednesday. “We can certainly use the break,” Malone said.
We have more from the Northwest Division:
- Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic has been fined $2K for flopping, the NBA announced (via Twitter). Upon league office review, Jokic was assessed the flopping penalty after he fell backward while taking a shot in the fourth quarter against the Kings following minimal contact from Domantas Sabonis.
- Jalen Williams has been an integral part of the Thunder’s early success this season, Rylan Stiles of ThunderousIntentions.com notes. Williams is tied with Chet Holmgren as the club’s second-leading scorer and has often carried the offensive load when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rests at the start of the second and fourth quarters, yet the contributions of the second-year lottery pick are often overlooked.
- Jazz rookie lottery pick Taylor Hendricks hasn’t played much, but he flashed intriguing potential with Lauri Markkanen and Kelly Olynyk sidelined by injuries against Portland on Saturday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune’s Eric Walden. While Hendricks posted modest stats in his 18-minute stint, he made notable defensive contributions, including a couple of blocks. “He was able to switch 1 to 4, and he was able to cause havoc, and that’s what we needed,” guard Collin Sexton said.
Jokic is stuck in lose-lose. Play thru the contact and wind up w scratches etc but get no calls, or flop to show contact and get hit w this stuff. He is def overdoing the flopping I’m not saying he shouldn’t have been fined, just that he almost has to flop to show he is being fouled bc of how strong he is (in general, not talking abt the sabonis play). Similar to where lebron was in his young days. Then of course he executed the LeFlop mission so take that as u will for jokics date.
Jokics fate *
This is big men in general in the NBA…
They have to exaggerate contact for many reasons… Not least of all the fact thay the refs have short people bias…
There wasn’t always this big of a difference in whistle, however it has got worse over the past 2 decades…
I’d have liked to see the Nuggets retain Thomas Bryant last off-season. Bryant could’ve filled multiple roles for the Nuggets. Backup center and stretch 4 next to Jokic. The Nuggets could’ve rested Gordon/started Bryant. Bryant is a good corner 3 shooter and can play the dunker spot/flash down to the low post if he’s guarded by a much smaller player. Yes, Bryant is not the excellent defender that Gordon is. The Nuggets could however play small at the 3 when Jokic and Bryant were on the court together…Jokic/Bryant/Swatson or Braun/KCP/Murray seems to me like it could be a very solid D team. Anyhow, Bryant is a good 3 point shooter and rebounder. The Nuggets could use a player like that.