If anyone doubts that the playoffs are a different tournament than the regular season, especially in the NBA, they should think again, especially after the reaction of Nikola Jokic in Game 2, who in addition to having found in Draymond Green his nemesis was the personification of theDenver Nuggets‘ frustration against the Golden State Warriors.
Overall, the Joker’s numbers in this second game at the Chase Center were remarkable (26 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists,) but the mind games proved too much for the Serbian.
Green and his teammates knew how to slow down the power play of the 2021-22 MVP candidate, but not just with physical play, but with the kind of basketball that collapses the league’s star players to an earthly level.
The pressure that has fallen on the Nuggets’ roster after this pair of games in The Bay is brutal. Jokic’s ejection was the biggest display of helplessness in the face of the Warriors’ certainty and clarity of play, but what happened in the last half outside the team bordered on the limits of absurdity.
Cousins and a new outburst against Warriors
While the Splash Brothers combined for 74 points to Golden State’s 126, Will Barton and DeMarcus Cousins had to be separated by their teammates to avoid a major catastrophe.
And boy, could it have been worse, remembering that Cousins was ejected in the fourth quarter of Game 1 against his former team after picking up two consecutive technical fouls. After 12 years in the league, the veteran player continues to be dominated by his emotions.
On Thursday, the series moves to Denver, where the home team will have to cause an implosion that will change the frustration shown in the first two games for the best version of all their players… and for Jokic and Cousins to show that they are mentally ready to show signs of life against the Warriors.
Marca
